The Familiar of Tiffania the Half Elf
by ZeroTheDestroyer
Summary: Louise summons Saito, however, Saito does not land in Tristain Academy. Instead, he falls straight into the Fairy Woods, where he is found by -you guessed it- Tiffania Westwood.
1. Chapter 1

I would like to thank Umashido, Lithium-Flower567, greyrocks, timisnotmyname, StormyMonday, MAGNUM777, and Seigetsu Ren for looking over this story. Yes. This is ANOTHER new story. Fortunately for you, the audience, I've already finished writing the entire series and the above beta editors are looking at the next chapter as we speak. Do not worry about the consistency of this tale, everything from the Gandalfr's abilities to Tiffania's past is consistent with the anime. If you want to see for yourself please watch Season III, episodes 2-10 to confirm it. My apologies to anyone who wanted me to update one of my older fics, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. For some reason there has been an increase of Louise summons (insert familiar) but no one cares for Saito. Granted, Saito is not the best protagonist, but he isn't that bad. He is a regular human being, who is a bit on the pervish side, but he genuinely cares for the heroines of this tale. Plus, Louise wasn't nice in the anime. She did a lot of bad things to him -whipping being just one- and I've always thought he was better off in the forest with Tiffania. I'm not saying Louise a bad person, but her attitude, and Saito's tendency to leap at giant breasts, make it very hard for him to be in a relationship with her. Let me know, as usual, what you think.

So, without further ado, I present you my last project. Happy holidays. Here is my New Year's gift to you, ladies and gentlemen.

* * *

**Part I: Fairy in the Forest **

* * *

Louise had never done a successful summoning before. How could she? She was a failure as a mage. She didn't have a preference for any of the elements, nor could she do the simplest of spells. Had she not been a Noble, her status would be one of a commoner. No. Worse. For she knew she didn't have the physical capabilities to live as one.

"Go on, Miss, don't be shy."

And they were expecting her to summon a familiar? What a joke. Well, actually that's exactly what this was to her classmates. Not a single one thought she could do it, and she herself was starting to have doubts. But she couldn't just give up, not when she had told them that she would summon the best, the strongest, the most spectacular familiar they had ever seen.

"Come on now, Miss, we don't have all day."

"Just give me another second."

That's all she would need, just another second to gather herself. Looking around the court yard watching the smiling, sneering, and worried faces of classmates she couldn't help but growl. She would show them. She would show every one of them. No one should be treated like this, and no one should have to endure what she had to endure for the past year or so.

She turned back to the runes on the grassy floor. She wouldn't get any other chance to summon a creature again. This was the Spring Time Summoning, and after today this avenue would be closed to her. If she didn't hurry, then she would get no familiar. Did she really want a familiar? Yes. What would it be? She hadn't thought that far ahead and, worse still, what if she summoned something and IT didn't respect her?

"Mister Colbert, can I have just another second to collect myself?"

Her teacher smiled at her. "Yes. Just one more minute, but you do realize that you aren't the last person here don't you?"

Louise looked behind herself. No. She was far from the last person who would be summoning something today. The only difference was that there was a guarantee that they would actually get a familiar. Still, she knew that giving her teacher, Mr. Colbert, a retort like that would win her no points. Taking a deep breath she gathered as much magic as she could into her spell and began her chant.

"My Slave from Across the…." And she made her spell.

The girl felt a small hint of excitement creep through her spine as the magic pulled at her. No. That was wrong. It wasn't pulling at her, she was pulling at it. She was pulling at something from across the Aether, something across Time and Space, but she didn't know what. All she knew was that it was working and within minutes her summon was going to be answered. She continued to chant though, because she knew if she stopped her spell would be broken. She couldn't have that, not after sensing that she actually got something, something that could be amazing; maybe a dragon, or a griffin, or something else that no one else would be able to summon.

The crowd around her started to whisper and Louise could feel the tension in the air. It was like something was pressing against her so she looked up to see what exactly was going on. Something was happening in front of her. Some kind of hole in Space was opening and whatever was coming from the other side was going to appear within the next few seconds. Or at least she thought it would because the warp in Time and Space just stood there. It was like some kind of powerful suction device, making a noise that Louise had never heard before.

"Miss Valliere, perhaps you should take a step back?" her teacher called.

"No… just a bit longer." She needed to pull out whatever was on the other side of the vacuum. "Please."

"Miss, I don't think that's such a good idea-"

It wasn't, because the next moment Louise realized her mistake too late. She had used to much power in her spell and as a result it detonated, sending her crashing backwards into the crowd. Her head, fortunately, rested on a pair of bosoms from a tall, tanned redhead who looked down at her in delight.

"Well, Miss Zero, what was that about your perfect familiar?"

Louise, for an instant, didn't reply. Her head swam and her body felt numb. She looked ahead, onto the space were her summoning ritual exploded, and shuddered. She knew she had summoned something, she just did, but what happened to the thing she was trying to pull?

"I did Summon something…I sensed it," she mumbled.

"Sure you did, Louise the Zero," the tanned girl said, laughing. "You've summoned yourself another explosion."

The class burst into laughter at that and Louise growled. Turning away, so that they wouldn't see her cry, she walked past the field and toward the castle. Behind her she could hear her teacher yelling at her to slow down. He said something about giving her another chance, another opportunity, but she couldn't do that. Why? Because she was sure she had pulled someone from the Other Side, from somewhere in Time and Space, and he was likely somewhere within this realm.

And a part of her felt miserable. She, Louise, the youngest daughter of the Duke had not only messed up her summon but had sent her summoned creature to some unknown land, possibly miles and miles away from her, where she wouldn't be able to protect it.

"Please, slow down, you can try again after everyone is done."

Louise turned around. Her strawberry blond hair, pink eyes, and pale face looked solemn. "Mister Colbert I don't think I should try again."

The man looked puzzled. "Why?" he asked.

Louise took a deep breath. How was she going to explain that strange void, that pull, and the life force she had reeled so close to the Academy? Would the man even believe her if she told him she had just sent her familiar to a place far, far away?

She sighed. It was worth a shot. "Mr. Colbert, I don't know what I summoned but…." Her lips trembled "I think I just blew my familiar to a place I can't even sense."

It took a moment for that to sink in, but ever so slowly Louise watched as her teacher's face paled.

…

…

Saito felt like someone had bashed his skull open with a frying pan, put boiling hot bacon grease in the cracks, then closed it up and shook it like he was some kind of mix-up. No matter how he looked at it (or couldn't look at due to the pain) something strange just happened. Why would he think that? Well, it could be because he was damn sure he wasn't supposed to be in a forest.

Earlier this morning he had gotten his PC repaired and even registered for some dating sites. He was supposed to have found a girlfriend after today, and finally, after all these years, lose his virginity. He had it all planned out, from start to finish, and got himself new clothes, a new apartment, and put some money away in case he needed it. But, of course, something just had to happen.

A minute ago, while he walked down the streets of Tokyo, he found something floating without any beams to attach itself to. At first he was pretty sure it was some kind of old sideshow attraction, because everyone was ignoring it, but the more he looked at it the more bizarre it got. It wasn't supported by anything, and no one, not anyone he asked at least, could see it. Just him, and that didn't make any sense because he was pretty sure he wasn't wearing anything special that could see such a thing.

So what was it? He didn't know, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked through the floating machine-portal-disk thing. And, like usual, something just had to go wrong, because the portal got this bright idea to suck him like he was some kind of dirt waiting to be sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. He tried to scream, as most would, and even slowed down a bit while he was being sucked in through the void.

Wait. He shook his head. There was nothing. He had seen things as his body was hurled through that void of blackness, things he knew could not possibly exist. He had seen glimpses of a castle, glimpses of a girl with strawberry blond hair so deep that it was pink, and he had seen other things too. He was pretty sure he saw a glimpse of a dragon, a blue one if he wasn't mistaken, and people carrying some kind of staff? He couldn't recall it too well because he was hurling towards that image, and the next minute he felt a huge explosion, and he was hurtled to the side, past the image of the castle and toward another void.

He had travelled through that void, kicking and screaming, but to no avail. It was just tossing him around like he was a baseball and flinging him like a slingshot. He wasn't even sure how his body managed to stay in one piece and regretted that he didn't hold onto his laptop computer because that was destroyed in his travels.

He sighed to himself. No use worrying about that now. Now he had to get up, find out what was going on, and find the one responsible for this horrible mess. This mess where he was sent to some kind of forest? Yes. That's right; this was some kind of forest. He looked around, up and down, and realized that nothing about it said otherwise.

Getting off the ground and dusting himself off, Saito sighed. Saito was not the strongest of characters, nor was he the smartest: his grades were below average, his looks were below average, and so was his strength. But, he did have one amazing trait that separated him from other people: he was adaptable. If you put Saito in any given situation, no matter how bad, he would eventually adapt.

His parents said it was because he was a complete and utter moron, but Saito would like to think it was a good survival trait. The world was a harsh and changing place, and with the economy as it was, having someone like him around wasn't so bad. Though given his girlfriendless status over the past decade or so of his life, perhaps he wasn't the best person to give advice like that. No. Certainly not.

"Okay. This is interesting…did Japan even have trees like this?" he mumbled.

The trees he was talking about were as tall as small buildings. Japan, during the Industrial Revolution Phase and the Early Meiji Era had cut down much of its wild life to make way for housing. Not to say the country didn't have large trees, of course it did, but Saito had never seen so many in one place. Maybe it was because his family never visited Honshu or the more isolated Islands of Japan, or maybe because Saito never paid attention but all he could marvel at were the sheer size of the trees, and how they covered the sky.

If he looked up, he would be able to see the sun, that was true, but every time he saw the sun there were green leaves nearby that would block at least a good part of the sunlight. Shaking his head he figured that this was enough inspection because he needed to find his way home. He looked down, to his feet, to his pants, then to his shirt, and confirmed that he at least had all his clothes.

He looked behind himself to confirm that he had his backpack...it was gone. Well, not so much gone as it was completely and utterly obliterated. Whatever had sucked him into that Void had taken a number on his bag and all that was left were a few rags of fiber and what might, or might not, be a few chains.

"Better see if there is anyone here," he grumbled. "Anyone who would help me that is."

Quickly Saito made his way through the clumps of forest and toward any place with smoke. He could tell it was smoke because how clear the sky was in contrast to the rising clouds. He didn't know if the smoke was coming from a forest fire or a man-made fire but at this point he didn't care. Any help he could get, he would take it. It was just that simple. It wasn't like he had many options and the options he did have lay in jumping through that Void back home.

He groaned when he realized that he would have to climb up hill to get to where smoke was coming from and groaned some more when he slipped a few times on some roots. Wait… roots? He looked down. How did he not notice this before? Every inch of the ground was covered in large, gangly roots. Now that he thought about it, it looked kind of scary, and almost alive. Could they be alive? No. That wasn't likely but he couldn't take that chance. He knew of plants that were carnivorous, and he had never been outside of Japan before. For all he knew, this could be one of those things he saw straight out of anime.

Speaking of anime the forest was starting to look more and more like the forest in the Legend of Zelda, not that Zelda was an anime, but the themes and animation were still there. He chuckled to himself seeing an Elf pop out of nowhere and tell him to stop. He always hated when those annoying Elves did that in the game, but he wouldn't have to worry about that here. This was the real world, this was reality, and no strange mythical creature lived here. Just some foresters, farmers, trackers, or wild life researchers.

Or that was what he thought until he got a good look at the place where the fire was coming from. The first sight was, not surprising; the material the cabin was made from. It was wood, as most cabins were, but there was something off about how the wood was sliced.

Lumber, especially lumber designed for cottages, tended to be symmetrical, but the logs that made this cottage was off. It was a good attempt, but whoever did the building job didn't do much of a job. Then there was the lack of electrical equipment. Usually a cottage would have some kind of box at the front or at the side where people would be able to check electrical usage.

Some people even had their own generators and Saito didn't see one of those. Or maybe, just maybe, this cottage was an old model and that's why it didn't have that. Probably further proof that he wasn't in Japan, as his country was far too technologically advanced to make such an odd error, even if anime said otherwise.

What gave the cottage its peculiar appearance was not so much that, but the way it just sunk into the forest, like it was trying to meld with the surrounding vegetation and become one with it. It didn't make sense to Saito because that would only attract more bugs, rats, and vermin, but far be it for him to judge the taste of other people. He knew perfectly well how strange he was, always jumping at the first sign of giant mammaries-on the internet.

"Hello!" He called out. "Is anyone out there?"

He didn't get an answer which didn't surprise him, so he stepped out of the forest and headed toward the cottage. As he got closer he noticed how clean it was. Saito had never gone camping before but he did know that people tended to litter on camping grounds, but there wasn't a trace of litter anywhere near here. Whoever owned this place must be one of those nature buffs, or just very clean. He stood outside the door and knocked. No one answered, of course.

"Can someone help me?" He slammed his hand again and again. "I don't know where I am."

He put his ear on the door and listened for anyone. He realized then and there that not a single person was inside, so he stepped off the property and towards the forest again. Looking down, trying to find footprints, he noticed that there just weren't any tracks. So not only were the inhabitants of the cabin nature freaks, but they were also very sneaky? Odd. Why would humans need to be sneaky in a forest?

"Unless there are bears in the forest…" he muttered. He looked around, again, and again, making sure that there were no predators nearby. The trees were tall, the forest was getting dark, and in a few hours it would be night. So what should he do? Should he stay here in this cottage in the middle of nowhere? Maybe. That didn't seem like a bad idea, and he would be safe here, but what if people came here and thought he was some kind of burglar?

Saito knew he didn't look like a dangerous person, but when a person lives in a forest for so long they tend to think differently. There may be a good reason why this cabin was located here, and why it was camouflaged to blend into the forest, as if they were trying to hide from people. But why? Why hide from people? Unless, of course, there was a good reason for hiding from people, because maybe, just maybe they, the people living in the cabin, were fugitives.

A slight chill went up Saito's spine and he walked away from the cabin. As soon as he got a certain distance he looked back, trying to figure out if he had been followed, and sighed in relief when he realized that was not the case. Then, satisfied that he was safe, he walked back to where he had arrived and tried to get his bearings.

"What should I do?" He had never been in a situation like this before. "Should I just keep going north until I meet people?" He remembered watching a documentary that said if you were ever lost, go north. Statistically speaking cities were located in the north, or, at least, statistically speaking, in Japan. But if this was not Japan, that piece of advice wouldn't save him; in fact it might actually kill him.

As he thought about what to do, night began to approach and the pain in Saito's head worsened, as well as his hunger. He looked at his clothes, which had been shredded by the odd explosion that had occurred right before he was sucked into the image of a castle, and he frowned. He liked these clothes. They were durable, flexible, and they made up his style. He liked his jeans, his blue sweatshirt, as well as his sneakers. Luckily his sneakers were still intact and hadn't taken the brunt of the damage. Still, what was he going to do about the rest of his clothing? Nothing. That's what.

His thoughts were once again interrupted by the hunger in his belly. He didn't know just how many hours had passed, or how many hours he had spent leaning against the tree but he didn't care. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him. When daylight started up, he would try to find people and watch them from a distance. Then, when he confirmed they were safe, he would ask them for help.

But, as he closed his eyes, he did something he would regret for the rest of the night. Saito looked up at the moon…then looked at the second moon. "Two moons….what!" Immediately his eyes flashed open, his body jerked, and he stood up. "This can't be possible."

Up in the sky, the vast dark night, were thousands upon thousands of stars, but what caught his attention above that were the two giant moons against one another. His mind raced a thousand miles per hour trying to figure what manner of trickery this was, and his breathing quickened. "I must be going crazy." That's right, he had finally snapped. His mother always said not studying enough would make his brain rot but he never believed her. Now look at him, standing in the middle of nowhere, with two giant moons in the sky? No, this could not possibly be real.

"But…my sleep…feels realllll…" Even as he stood there gazing at the moon his eyes started to tire, and he closed them, even while standing, and slowly fell back onto the tree.

…

…

As Saito lay on the tree, battered, injured and in peril, something was stirring in a bush next to him. Whatever it was, was not particularly tall. It had neither a slim figure, or a large one. It had something in between. It was neither very sturdy, nor overly soft, but it looked sturdy enough to be unapproachable in the dark.

The figure watched the boy and watched him carefully. The figure had been watching the boy ever since morning and had been trying to stay out of sight. It knew how the boy would react if he spotted it. Everyone reacted the same way and the less people that knew about her living in the forest, the better. But that didn't mean the figure was going to leave the boy alone, hungry, and scared. No, the figure would never dream of that.

It was just going to wait for the right time, wait for the boy to be in deep sleep, and then help.

…

…

When Saito opened his eyes he saw a fire. It was burning. A closer look and he realized it was burning on a stack of wood, a stack of wood piled into some kind of furnace. His eyes trailed away from the fire, past the carpet before the fire, to the wooden floor, and then back to where he was lying.

"What the…" Lying? What was he doing lying somewhere. Wasn't he in a forest? "Where is this place?"

It seemed as if every time something odd happened he would end up in some strange place. Still, Saito had always been good at adapting. He looked at the place he was in, and smiled. So he was inside a cottage? It looked like he didn't need to find those people after all. Then his mind stopped. Those people who may be criminals on the run.

Immediately he started to huff and his breathing quickened. If they had taken him from the forest to harm him he was in very big trouble. Then again if they hadn't he would seem like a complete and utter moron. And, most importantly, if they were going to harm him why would they make him feel so comfortable? He looked down. He wasn't wearing his clothes. In fact he wasn't wearing any clothes aside from his boxers. Pulling away the bed sheets, he was sleeping on he looked at his body. It seemed like someone had bandaged him while he was asleep.

A closer inspection told him they had done a pretty good job too. There seemed to be healing salves pasted wherever he had met impact with that explosion, and, most importantly, there was something standing next to his bed. He smiled at the soup, bread, and leaves (this part he didn't understand) waiting on a small stool and reached out for it.

He carefully placed the food into his mouth and started to eat. As he ate he looked at other things in the room as well. On the left was a table, and on the right was some kind of small library shelf. There were a few books on them - well not a few, more like several - but the titles were written in a language he did not understand. He frowned at that, but didn't make any other comment. Perhaps he really was in a foreign country?

"Are you here?" Saito called out.

No one answered, though he didn't expect them to considering how empty the cottage was. It was just so small, so tidy, neat and, dare he say it, rather cozy. He wrapped the sheets around his body and noticed something rather peculiar. The sheets smelled like the forest, it had its scent, and it made him feel a bit funny. The sheets were almost like perfume, and there didn't seem to be any stains on it either. Almost as if the user of the sheets constantly washed them.

Well, he didn't need to know minor details. What was important was finding out who helped him, thank him, and then ask him to help himself get back home. He gently pulled the nice smelly sheets away from his body, reluctantly of course, and proceeded to walk toward the kitchen. Once he was there he looked at the pots and pans and picked one up. They looked so old, like they were from Japan's Feudal Era. Nothing here looked particularly modern.

Deciding not to be rude he put the pans back where they belonged and began inspecting other things in the house. He walked toward the book shelf and opened a few books. As he thought, there just weren't any texts he could read. But the strange thing was they weren't even written in English. Like a lot of Japanese Saito had formal English courses in school. He knew how to say "Hello" and "Bye" and he was pretty sure he knew the alphabets.

This was written in something far more obscure than English and the prints were very bold. Why would they need to make the ink so thick? Didn't printers make that useless? "This is getting strange." He put the book down slowly and took a step towards the door. "The more I learn about this place, the more it doesn't make sense."

Once he was outside the room he began inspecting the area for his saviour. As he expected they weren't nearby, and that brought a frown to his face. "Hello!" he shouted. "If you're out there please answer me!"

No one said anything.

He sighed. "Well, if you can hear me I just want to say thanks!" he called out.

He turned back, and was about to go in, when he heard a snap of twigs. Immediately he turned around and saw someone jump behind a tree. He couldn't be sure but whatever jumped behind the tree was wearing something brown. No, not only brown but very stealthy, something someone would wear to blend into the environment.

Saito felt a hint of panic creep into him, but he forced himself to calm down. Carefully he took a step back into the house and looked around for something he could use. His eyes immediately caught sight of an axe and he sighed with relief. He picked up the axe, noting how heavy it was, and proceeded to walk outside.

The person, or at least he assumed it was a person, was still behind the tree and Saito wasn't going to let it go –it was a threat- without a fair warning. Saito, like most boys his age, had zero combat experience and never had to fend for his life, but that didn't mean he was completely hopeless. Like a lot of boys in middle school he had to join sports clubs, and he, surprisingly, studied kendo.

Now, a kendo stick is far different from an axe, but the principle of seeing your opponent and swinging still applied. Taking careful steps, making sure to not panic the potential intruder, he approached it.

"Who are you?" he called out.

The person didn't answer.

"Why are you here?"

The person didn't answer.

Saito slowed down. Every time he asked a question the figure behind the tree would start to shake, as if it was terrified to hear his voice. That didn't make sense to him because as far as he knew he didn't have a scary voice. He was a kind, gentle, and an overall likeable person. So why was this person shaking every time he asked a question?

Then he looked at the axe and felt stupid. He gently lowered it and tried again. "Are you…are you the one who saved me?"

The person behind the tree didn't shake this time but they didn't answer either.

"I'm not getting any answers," Saito said, trying to sound gentle. "Can you at least tell me if you mean any harm?"

The person didn't answer but Saito thought he heard it talk. Wait, calling that person an IT wasn't right. The IT was female, or at least that's what the voice indicated. Now Saito felt extra stupid and dropped the axe with a thud. He took a step closer to the tree, and the figure took a step back.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Saito exclaimed.

The figure went further behind the tree.

"Really, I'm not!" Saito put his hands out. "Do you see a weapon on me?"

Saito didn't know what to do about this one. Clearly the person had problems meeting people, even people she saved, and he didn't want to frighten her off. He wanted to thank her, find a way to repay her if possible, and certainly want her back in her own cottage. Deciding that the best course of action was to make himself look as weak as possible he sat on the floor, cross legged, and looked at her again.

She, the girl standing behind the tree, slowly ducked her head out. Saito couldn't get a good look at her face, or her hair, or any part of her behind that hood. It was completely and totally dark, like some kind of void. He snorted a little at the void, that thing that he had been pulled through, and that odd feeling he had when he almost reached the image of the castle.

"There, I'm on the floor, with no weapons, and you're behind the tree, and I can't do anything to you." The girl nodded slightly.

"Are you still afraid of me?"

The girl nodded again.

Saito rubbed the back of his head and shook it a few times. What could he do to make her come to him? Then again, with the way she was keeping her distance, perhaps coming to him might not be a good idea. After all, if she reacted this badly he couldn't see her face, how would she react when he got a…

Better look? Then something else hit him. He looked down, to his chest, and started to redden.

"I am not wearing a shirt am I?"

The girl took a moment to answer, but she shook her head.

"I think I should probably put one on."

The girl gently nodded and dove back behind the tree.

Getting up Saito made his way back to the cottage, looked around for his shirt, and found it hanging on some kind of wire. He took a closer look at the shirt, and noticed something very flattering. The girl had taken her time to sew and mend the tears on it. A closer look at the work made him whistle. This forest girl was good, real good, and maybe she was some kind of professional. Then again, looking at where she lived, perhaps not. He put his shirt back on, made sure to check himself on a nearby mirror and walked out again.

The girl was still there, hiding behind the tree, trying not to meet his gaze. He rolled his eyes at trying to avoid his face. It wasn't like he could see what she looked like, and, judging by the way the brown cloak clung to her body, she wasn't that bad looking. So what if she had a few scars, or mosquito bites on her face, Saito wasn't very picky when it came to girls. Most girls would do, as long as they had a nice pair of melons.

"So um…thanks for the meal" he said lamely.

The girl stared at him from her cloak. At least she was not hiding behind the tree. Truthfully it was kind of creepy just seeing her standing out there, near the bushes, with her cloak on, and forest around her. It was like she was a part of nature, a force of nature, and he was some kind of outsider. Then again, when he thought about it, he really was an outsider.

"Would you like some soup?" He pointed to the house. "I…I didn't finish all of it."

The girl tugged at her cloak, making herself look a bit smaller. Saito wasn't sure what that meant. He didn't know how to read body language, but he guessed she looked somewhat embarrassed? Why? The soup was good, the bread was fine, and even if there wasn't much of it, it certainly filled his belly.

Then something else struck him. "By any chance…" He didn't want to say it. "…by any chance was that the last of your bread?"

The girl nodded and clung further to her cloak. She was trying to make herself look as meek and feeble as possible, as if curling herself into a ball would make herself a smaller target. Saito knew that worked for some animals, but that wasn't going to work for the girl. He was here, near her cottage, standing outside, staring at her intently, and he wasn't even doing anything!

"If that was all that was left, I'll buy you another loaf." He wasn't sure where he was going to get the money, but he didn't want to owe anyone any debt. "I promise."

The girl looked up and shook her head. Saito guessed that meant no. She was fine with losing her loaf of bread, fine with sharing her food, and all she wanted in return was…nothing? This was going to be a problem. Hiraga Saito was not necessarily an honorable person, but he didn't want to be in debt to anyone. He especially didn't want to owe this person anything, and the more he took from her, the more he owed her.

"There has to be something I can do to repay you." He pleaded to the girl with his eyes. "Something?"

The girl stopped curling into herself and paused. Slowly, carefully, and with many small steps she let her cloak go a bit and looked at him carefully. Her head bowed down, making something pointy, no two pointy things, touch the tip of her hood, and Saito looked away. He was starting to see why the girl hid her face like that.

She must have had some kind of facial deformity. Right away he felt sorry for her, and he knew that he had already gone too far being just this close. He took a few steps back, and bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry."

The girl continued to look at the floor.

"But I really want to pay you back, if you'd let me…and I know I can do something."

He looked around. There was something here he could do, surely? There was a block of wood nearby, an axe as well, as well as a bag for storing seeds and the like. "I can chop fire wood? Yes?" He wasn't sure. "I can do that."

The girl looked up, her face still hidden by the darkness in the hood. Saito couldn't tell but he guessed she looked somewhat surprised.

"I know I don't look very strong." He pointed to his muscles. Or his lack of muscles. "But I'm stronger than I look."

The girl slowly tilted her head. It made her look somewhat comical, but still very, very creepy.

"Just tell me how much you need and I'll chop it for you."

The girl didn't do anything, and Saito took that as her expression of "Go ahead." So he did and he found out just how hard it was to cut down lumber. He swung down once, then twice, then three times, and nothing happened. He looked back to the girl, who was still standing there on the outskirts of her cottage and sighed.

"I'm not good at this."

The girl didn't say anything. As usual.

"But I've never done this before."

The girl looked surprise somewhat, judging by the way her head shook slightly.

"What? I lived in the city."

The girl nodded.

"So I never needed to cut any wood." Saito rubbed his hair. "But there has to be an easier way than what I'm doing."

The girl didn't do anything for another minute. Saito stared at her, and she stared back at him. Then, very slowly, she took a step over the bush and walked toward him. Her cloak didn't touch the ground once and Saito could see a magnificent pair of boots on her. He couldn't tell the exact color of those boots but they were either pasty or white. They actually looked new and the quality didn't look half bad either.

As she got closer Saito realized just how broad she was.

She wasn't broad like a man, not even close, but as far as women went she was out there. He could already tell she carried a fair amount of weight on herself, even if he couldn't tell whether she was obese -judging by the sound the ground made when she got near. Wait. Was that sound from the ground, or something from within her cloak? It sounded like something was bouncing.

When she finally got to his side all thoughts of what that bouncy noise was disappeared, it would have to if he wanted to chop wood for her. Still, with hands shaking, the girl lifted the axe into the air with tremendous strength and brought it down like a hammer. The wood sliced cleanly in half and flew two ways from the opposite side of where the axe met wood. Saito just stared at her with astonishment as this happened, and he wasn't sure what to say.

Clearly he should be the one who should be afraid of her. "Can you show me that again?"

The girl nodded and did as she was instructed. Saito watched her carefully lift the axe, holding it at the base, watched her stance, and watched as she arched her back forward while she hit the wood down with one swift motion. The wood, once again, cut cleanly and flew through the air. Saito whistled in appreciation and the girl, once again, looked nervous. It was like she had done something wrong, and Saito knew how that felt.

He wasn't all he could be, and many thought he was some kind of slacker. Saito knew he wasn't, but proving that was another matter. "Thanks." He put his hand out, and the girl handed him the axe. "Tell me if I'm doing this right."

The girl took a few steps back and watched him bring the axe down. It came down a lot faster, with more strength, but still didn't cut the wood in half. Saito frowned and looked at her again. "Well?"

The girl shook her head.

"Is that a good or a bad?"

The girl nodded.

Saito sighed. "So I'm doing this wrong?"

The girl shook her head.

"Then…I'm just not strong enough?"

The girl said nothing. Saito laughed. She was actually pretty funny, even if she wasn't meaning to be. Most girls weren't that blunt and usually used more subtle, tricky, and casual methods to divert an awkward situation such as this, but Saito figured he would have to be the one to do this from now on.

The girl seemed to have less social grace than himself.

He handed the girl the axe and she took it. "I guess I'm not much good here." He looked at the sun, and then looked back at her. "Maybe I'll help clean up the cottage?"

The girl didn't make a move to stop him, or help him, so he walked past her, past the piles of wood, and through the door. He went to the sink and realized there was no hydraulic system. It was just a sink, but there was nothing there but a drainage basin. Saito didn't understand why that would be the case. Surely she wasn't that poor. Most cottages at least had a water system, but this one…wait a minute.

Saito looked around for something very important. He looked to the left, looked to the right, and looked everywhere in the shelter. This couldn't be right; this just didn't make any sense. Then deciding that it was outside he went outside and searched for it there, and no such luck occurred.

'How in the world could the builders forget that?' he thought.

Eventually he stopped searching and just asked the girl in the cloak. To his utter amazement the piles of wood were neatly cut. What kind of strength did this girl have? And how come he didn't hear anything? Was this girl both incredibly strong and incredibly fast? He shivered a bit at the thought and promised himself never to cross her in his life. She might be meek, shy, and a bit isolated but she could kill him, no doubt about that.

"I want to ask you something."

The girl listened.

"Is there a washroom here?"

The girl didn't understand.

"I mean is there a place where you..you know…take a **?"

The girl turned her face away and Saito could tell she was embarrassed. Realizing the stupid blunder he made he palmed his face and looked at her again.

"Sorry, that's probably too personal."

The girl shook her head. Then, very slowly, she pointed to a spot in the woods. Saito trailed her finger, which was very long and pale, and looked at the spot she was pointing to. It seemed to be a mound of some kind. He looked even further and noticed that there was also a shovel there. He stopped himself from commenting because that would be rude, but he knew what that was.

It was an honest-to-kami-hole-in-the-ground latrine.

"Thanks." He wasn't sure what else to say. He turned back to the girl, who was crouching down to pick up the blocks of wood, and he decided that at least he could help out in this part. "Let me carry some of that."

He reached out to take a few, but the girl pulled away. Saito gaped at the sheer strength it took for the girl to take a step back from him AND carry all that wood with just her hands, while wearing that heavy looking cloak. What was she? Underneath that cloak was she some kind of body building beast? That thought did not sit well, but he wouldn't be dissuaded. "Listen, I have to earn my keep. You're actually doing ME a favor if you let me help."

The girl shook her head.

"Please."

She shook it again.

He frowned. "Fine. Then I'm going to go back inside the house and scrub your floors, mop them, wipe your walls, windows, pots and pans, until every last one of them shines like pearls." He smiled at her. "How does that sound?"

The girl looked embarrassed, again, because she slowly started to curl into her cloak. Saito watched in astonishment as she did this without dropping a single piece of that stack. This girl, this monster of a girl, could not be human –metaphorically speaking- and where did she get such balance?

"Okay. Right. I'll just be on my way." Saito took a few careful steps back, eyed the axe that was on the ground, and turned back to the house.

After the girl put the wood where it belonged Saito got around to cleaning every inch of the cottage.

He cleaned the walls, he cleaned the floor, and he cleaned the pans. He noticed that the books she carried needed dusting, but when he went to look at them the girl stepped in front of him –in a second no less- and shook her head.

It seemed to take a lot out of her to do this, so Saito gave her a gentle smile and backed away. He didn't want to be a bother, nor cause her discomfort and if he had to clean less, then that was better for him he figured. So that's what he did: he cleaned everything he could get his hands on and made sure to do it carefully.

When he was finally done night had fallen and Saito realized something he had been holding off for a while. Truthfully the thought never crossed his mind because he was so busy working, something he was surprised he was happy to do, but now it was going to be a big issue. Well, it would be if the girl had anything to say about it.

"This might be an awkward question but…" He didn't look at her as he said this. He just kept wiping the window. "Do you know where I'm going to sleep tonight?"

The girl took a moment to think, or at least that's what it looked like from Saito's point of view. Truthfully she was nervous, looking around, then she pointed to…her bed? She couldn't possibly mean sleep in her bed, could she? He was better now, and he didn't need someone to look after him. So why would she offer him her bed?

"I don't think that's such a good idea…" He didn't want to explain to her why. Saito knew he was a pervert, it wasn't a secret. The moment he had smelled the scent on those sheets he wrapped himself up further, worse still he wasn't even sure if that scent was female, but, hmm, now he knew.

Saito tried to find something he could use as a bed in the cottage and found nothing. There were no extra sheets, or pillows, or anything of that nature. There was, however, cold hard wood and…that girl was going to sleep on the cold wood and let him sleep on the comfy bed. Good Kami, he felt awful. Who in the world was this kind?

"Hey, don't look so down." The girl seemed to be looking at the floor. "I..I actually like sleeping on the floor."

The girl looked up at him, he still couldn't see her face of course, and tilted her head underneath the brown cloak. "Huh?"

Saito opened his mouth. Not to talk, not to speak, or even to reply, but simply to gape. The girl had actually said something to him? Astounding! And here he thought she was mute. Not just mute, but possibly even dumb, kind of, but that voice was anything but. No, wait, that's not true. The voice didn't sound very intelligent, in fact he wasn't sure if what she said was a word, but he took it as such.

"You see back home I wasn't rich." That was an understatement. Like most Japanese students he lived in a one room apartment complex. This cottage was far larger than where he used to live, but at least his place had electricity. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain this to the girl without making fun of her home, so he decided to play it safe. "Since I didn't have a lot of money, I usually lived in run down places." He gave her a reassuring smile. "So don't worry about me. Just make sure you get a good night's sleep."

The girl made a small noise, which sounded embarrassed, and turned away from him. Saito smiled further when she did this. Something about her mood seemed to have lightened when he said this, and he could tell that she even looked a bit relieved. Saito didn't blame her. He looked at the floor and realized that it did not look inviting.

How the world did the girl sleep here last night? He looked around and found nothing. Then his eyes locked onto her cloak and he figured it out. "She must have used that as a pillow and blanket." It was kind of sad, but sometimes people have to make do with what they had. Saito felt even more respect for this girl, even if she couldn't get near him without twitching.

"Alright, so I'll just sleep over there." He pointed to a place far from his bed. That place, unfortunately, was far from the fire as well.

The girl seemed to have picked up on this because she shook her head.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to go further?" Saito didn't want that, but he would do as he was instructed.

The girl pointed to a place right by her bed and Saito stopped himself from gasping in time. Was this girl crazy? Let a teenage boy near her bed in the middle of nowhere? Was she really that naïve? No. His mind stopped to think about what he knew about her. She was incredibly strong and she was fast as well. She also knew the woods like the back of her hand, and this was her own home. Maybe she knew what she was doing, and he was misunderstanding the whole situation.

Besides, it wasn't like she was some smoking hot babe underneath that dirty old cloak. Or at least he didn't think so. Girls who had looks tended to flaunt it, and the girl was trying as hard as she could to keep her face hidden from him. He felt pretty bad for her, because she must have had something really bad happen to her if she covered herself like that. And did she think that he, Saito, would judge her based on looks?

Well, the girl certainly didn't know anything about him, so that was understandable, but it still hurt a bit that she didn't trust him. Of course, he hadn't earned her trust yet, and bringing out an axe earlier today must have spooked her some. "Do you have any sheets?" He knew she didn't have any but he had to ask.

The girl looked down. Saito followed where she was looking and noticed she was looking at the carpet.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

She trembled as he said this, and Saito changed his tone right away. "I mean great! Fantastic! I love using carpets as blankets! I'm used to it!"

It all sounded pretty disgusting in his opinion, but he knew he didn't want to make the girl feel any worse. "Anyway, I'll step out so you can go change and get to bed."

The girl looked relieved, because her whole body language screamed it, and Saito left the shelter just after that. He waited a few minutes and looked at the two moons in the night sky. There used to be a video game he played where the sky had two moons, he just didn't remember what game that was. Or was that the Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask where the Demon Moon was falling from the night sky?

He shook his head. This wasn't a video game. He had to remind himself that everything was too real and there were no dragons, Hylean Elves, or knights in shining armor prowling this area. Tomorrow he would get directions from the girl inside, visit the marketplace, and find out what was going on. Surely they would have a telephone and he would easily make a phone call to his parents.

After knocking twice and getting no response Saito slowly pushed the door open and entered the house. The fire light was burning and he could see the girl sleeping in her bed. No. That's not entirely true. He could see the shape of the girl sleeping in the bed, but she had her entire body wrapped in sheets from head to toe.

Saito's face saddened at that. She didn't want him to get a single glimpse of any part of her. Not her hair, not her face, or even her feet. Was she really that deformed? Or was she just that insecure? If so, what circumstances forced her to be this way?

"I've gotta find some way to help her," he muttered. He put his hands on the back of his shirt and started to pull it up. Slowly his shirt came off and dropped to the floor. He then turned away from the girl and started pulling down his pants. Once they were off he carefully folded them and got onto the carpet on the floor and wrapped himself with it. He couldn't be sure but while he was taking off his clothes he thought he heard the girl make a noise, almost as if she had caught him, but that couldn't be right.

The girl would have no reason to watch him change.

"I mean, it's not like she's never seen a boy before."

…

…

As soon as Saito went to sleep the figure in the bed started moving. She made sure not to make any noise as she moved the sheets away from her body. Once that was done she checked if there was a hat nearby and placed it on her head. If by some chance the boy woke up, he might attack her. As naïve as she was, she still had some memories of what happened in her childhood when the villagers found her and her mother.

Once that was taken care of, she put her foot on the ground and gently walked to the book shelf. Her small fingers trailed up and down the shelves trying to look for the book her mother left her. Her mother left her many books, of course, but this one was particularly important. This was the book about ancient magic and another type of magic. That type of magic was supposed to be out of a legend, but her mother told her if there was any need for it, if there was any time that her magic reacted to anything, she should always look in THAT book.

That's exactly what she was doing right now.

It was a suspicion she had, just a fable, and it could be a delusion, but she didn't think what she was feeling was fantasy. Finally, after looking for it in the dark, she managed to find it. It was a good thing her race was good at finding things in the dark, her especially. She had helped many travellers during the night, since the morning time was far too dangerous for her.

However she needed more light to read her book, so she went outside and walked. She walked until she was out of his range, and made sure to look behind herself to make sure she wasn't followed. Then, under the cover of moonlight, she put the book to the air and started reading the contents. Her eyes looked for key words on what she was looking for, words that could make sense of what the boy was.

The girl had lived in the forest for most of her life and she knew how things worked around here. The boy just simply popped out of existence and made a large bang when he entered. She had been watching him the moment he appeared and, to her amazement, when he arrived he was summoned not more than a meter from where she was standing. Had he looked to the side, instead of looking up,when he opened his eyes, he would have spotted her when he first arrived.

The girl knew this well, and that's what worried her. Finally, after looking at everything else, she found it. She found the page on human summoning, a lost art that only one person had ever achieved in the history of their world.

However, there was a problem; now that she found the page on human summoning she was going to need to sort out what type of human summoning he was. He could be one of two things, but that didn't really make any sense. He couldn't be the Left Hand of God, that wasn't right. He didn't have any type of weapon, and the Left Hand of God usually carried a weapon. Her eyes went down the page to look for any more information on him. There she found the battle capability of the human summon, how it can destroy a thousand different men, master any type of weapon, and even have telepathic abilities with the master.

Master. Now that's what she was looking for. She put her finger on anything about masters, but the people who wrote this book only labeled one other master of the Left Hand of God. That was the founder of the current human civilization of the world, and that didn't make any sense because clearly the boy was a human summon.

She sighed and put the book down on the forest floor. If only her mother was here, she would know what to do. If only she didn't have to die, if only those villagers didn't have to find them, if only…there were just too many 'ifs' there. She shook her head and looked back at her cabin. There was just one thing that the book didn't explain. Or maybe it did. The boy hadn't spoken a word that she understood, yet she understood the intent behind it. She understood what he was asking for even if his words didn't make any sense to her.

That must have been the telepathic ability with the master that the book-wait! She paused. The Left Hand of God had mild telepathic links with the Master, however she, herself, was not his master. So why did she understand him so well? She didn't recall making a contract with him, and when she bandaged him she didn't see any runes, the runes that were supposed to be located on his hand there.

The girl breathed harder and harder at this odd news. This did not sit well with her. If this human summon was what she thought she was, what her mother's book said it was, that also meant something she had been avoiding her whole life.

A brief memory came to the surface of her mind, a memory of a day when she used her power, the power she swore not to use again, and she closed her thought process right away. Slowly her mind went back to how it usually worked, closing off the world around her, and getting by on sheer instinct. The girl smelled the night air and smiled up at the moons, it was beautiful out tonight, both of them were. She took a look back at the cabin one last time and decided to take a risk. Slowly she put her hood back and let moon caress her.

She left the moon fall onto her pale blond hair that ran down her back, let it touch her pink healthy flesh, and look into her light blue eyes. Taking another look to see if he was there she reached onto her head and pulled off her cap. As it fell it revealed a set of long delicate ears that ended in points on either side of her face. The girl had been becoming increasingly uncomfortable having to hide this, but knew it was absolutely necessary.

She was absolutely terrified of what might happen if he decided to follow what the others in this land did.

"Mother help me." She looked up at the twin moons. "I don't know what to do."

The moon didn't give her an answer.

"Mother, when I'm near him something happens to me…"

Her mind became sharper, more focused, and she started saying things that didn't make any sense.

"Mother, he can't be what I think he is…"

She didn't recall summoning him, and why would she summon something like him? He was a creature of destruction, a violation of everything she stood for, he was something used for war, used to destroy castles, to destroy clans, and butcher thousands of people. Why would she summon something like him…and yet he was summoned, and he came to her.

"Mother…I don't want to use my powers…"

Because she knew one important thing about what he was, she knew where the creature-the boy- got his power from, and if she started using her powers, the temptation to make a contract would come, and once that contract was signed…then what? Would she be able to live in this forest? Would this forest even want her to live here? She would become like the rest of the humans, she would be separating herself form a life of peace and tranquility, she would become like her mother.

"No! No! My mother was not that…" She tried to deny it, but she knew. Deep down she knew what she was. Her ears, her eyes, her speed, her strength, they were all indicators of what she was and what she would become if given enough time. If her looks weren't proof enough her elemental affinity was like a death sentence.

"No…"

Because the Left Hand of God only answered to a Void user.


	2. Chapter 2

I would like to thank Umashido, Lithium-Flower567, greyrocks, timisnotmyname, StormyMonday, MAGNUM777, and Seigetsu Ren for looking over this story. I'm not getting much feedback for this story, but that's okay. Thank you for all who have reviewed -all fourteen of you- and please enjoy the next chapter. We've got two more to go before the climax so hold on, grab a drink, and enjoy the latest update.

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**Part II: Stranger in a Stranger World  
**

* * *

Saito had to get up early the next morning to catch the girl. When he opened his eyes, as the morning light shown through the window, the girl was already getting ready for her duties. He didn't want to be a bother to her but he needed to get back to civilization. So when she was reaching for the door, getting ready to go out, he called out to her in a firm voice. "Wait!"

The girl slowly turned to him, while looking at the floor, and shook her head. She seemed to be saying no, though what she was saying no to could be anyone's guess. No matter. Saito needed an answer to a very important question, and by kami he would get his information, even if he had to step on a few toes to do it.

"I need to get back to people." Seeing he was getting no reaction from this he sighed. "I need to call someone."

The girl for a brief moment froze. Saito saw her hands, feet, and shoulders swiftly turn to ice, then she moved slightly. Her body didn't sway but he could see her tremble when he said he would call people. Saito was no genius but he was pretty sure the girl was trying to hide away from others. Well, if that were the case he would reassure her he would not tell anyone.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you are here." He looked at her pointedly. "Besides, I might need to come back if things don't go okay. " If this really was a foreign land he wasn't sure if he would be able to communicate with the natives. That idea did not rest well with him, but what else could he do? The longer he didn't contact his parents, the more trouble he would be in later. He didn't want to worry his family, and if that meant begging some foreigner for help then so be it.

The girl seemed to take her time answering his question because she was looking around the room in a panic. It was like she was searching for an exit, even if the exit was right behind her. Would she tell him how to get to town? Would she just lock the door and make him live in this cottage? Or, and this was the scary part, would she just kill him? She was faster, stronger, and certainly more agile than he was.

But that didn't happen. Instead she just sighed, looked slightly defeated, and pointed her finger past the window.

Saito looked at where she was pointing and nodded to himself. He had a feeling civilization was that way because he had seen a sort of path traced there, and possibly even horse cart tracks. He wasn't sure about this, since he had never seen horse cart tracks before, but there were hooves next to the tracks and there weren't many animals that pulled thin wheeled constructs like that.

"Thank you."

The girl politely nodded and left him.

"I'll keep my promise!" He shouted. "You won't have to worry about anyone following me back! I swear!"

The girl stopped before she escaped his view completely and looked at him. He didn't know but maybe, just maybe she was happy? That would make sense, she sure looked the part of the fugitive. Though why on earth would she save him if that were the case? If she didn't want to be found wouldn't leaving him to die hungry and injured be a better idea? He would have to figure out the mystery behind the girl later.

Right now he had to get back to people with phones, computers, and complicated machinery. Of course he would need to scale the forests between here and the next town or city. So preparing everything he needed, which consisted of the clothes on his back, he made his way to the direction the cloaked girl directed him to and made sure not to slow down. Who know how long he would have to travel, so it was best not to dawdle.

The only problem with NOT taking a brake was keeping conscious. He was so tired, and his hands kept itching. The food he ate yesterday wasn't very filling and he hadn't had clean water since he had lost consciousness. He wondered if there was a lake nearby where he would be able to get some, but figured that if that were the case the girl would have done so.

This place, wherever it was, was so isolated that many people probably avoided it. It made sense then that it wouldn't have the kind of resources that attracted trackers, hunters, and the like. He wondered if he would even find fish and realized that he was assuming too much about the landscape.

Of course he couldn't help it. It just look too much like a video game and those two moons... what was up with those two moons? When did the moon split in half and become two? Why hadn't anyone told him?

He didn't think he was that naïve, but anything was possible when you were Hiraga Saito, so maybe the moon really did turn into two different orbs and he just didn't notice it.

"Yeah right. Something fishy is going on."

That thought kept resurfacing the longer he kept walking down the forest. When the girl directed him to the nearest human habitat she didn't mention just how long he would have to walk. He started the journey during the morning and now it was late afternoon. Maybe for her it was a short, brisk walk, but Saito was a normal human being; walking long distance hurt.

Not only that but he didn't see a hint of human construction in any place. He didn't see any signs, he didn't see road maps, nor did he see any built trails. This didn't make any sense, but perhaps this was some kind of wild life preserve, though that didn't explain why the horses were able to stroll through here…and why would anyone use horses? Not only was that unreasonable but weren't cars easier to use?

In any case, that thought flew out from his mind because the next instant he saw what he had been searching for: a town.

"Finally!"

A wide smile fell upon his face and he looked ahead. There were people there, dressed in strange clothes, but they were people one and the same. As he got closer he saw many different hair colors and hair styles. Some were down right strange like a beard that fell down to one's leg, while others seemed a bit too hard to maintain, like long braided hair which trailed the floor. What kind of place was he in?

Of course that didn't compare to the clothing they wore, since it looked like something out of one of those RPG or Dungeon and Dragon type anime he watched back when he was a kid. Heck, he was pretty sure he saw a knight in black armor riding nearby. It reminded him of that knight in Record of Lodoss War almost. Though that didn't make much sense since THAT knight always had an elf-girl companion nearby and this one clearly didn't look like he wanted anything to do with the place.

No matter. Saito needed to talk to someone and that's what he was here for. "Excuse me!" He called out to anyone.

Someone looked at him, an old man, but then the old man just tilted his head and went back to what he was doing. Saito frowned and walked up to him. "Sir? Can you tell me where I am?"

The old man looked at him with annoyance and said something in a foreign language.

"What?"

The old man said something again.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand you."

The old man pointed to some place and Saito walked there.

"Darn. Looks like I'm going to need a translator."

Saito walked into what looked like a police station, though it looked like one from the Legend of Zelda, as the police seemed to be wearing armor? "Can someone help me?"

The armored knights looked at him suspiciously. "I'm Japanese." Saito waved his hands in the air. "Banzai! Banzai!"

The knights looked at each other again.

"C'mon you don't know Japan?"

The knights didn't seem to know a word he was saying. Not even the name of his country. This wasn't good. He decided to walk toward the station and the knights started to let him pass. They watched him critically as he entered and Saito got a look at the place. Nothing technological was here. Not a computer, not a phone, or even a GPS system..wait was that a map on the wall?

"Finally I can get a better look at where I…what the hell is this?"

…

…

Saito couldn't stop running. Before he knew what he was doing he had rushed out of the station, past the butcher, past the mason, and all the odd trades that took place in times gone and past. His mind was going a thousand miles per minute trying to make sense of the map. The map looked kind of like Europe, only it didn't have any of the European countries he remembered. Germania, Albion, Tristain, those names didn't exist in his world.

Then there was the fact that one of those lands seemed to be floating, according to the map, and there were bodies of water on the map that were certainly not listed in his maps back home. The police, or at least he thought they were police, had tried to catch him as he ran out of there originally, but they had given up. Probably because they didn't care. He was some strange foreigner who just went crazy after seeing the map.

When he got his breath back, it was when he stopped. He turned around and looked at the town more carefully. Every house, every shop, and every statue seemed to radiate a feudal era vibe. There didn't seem to be any skyscrapers, modern buildings, hospitals, or even schools. He looked another direction and saw farms in the distance as well as flocks of sheep. Okay, so he was in some backwater place. But what kind of backwater place had such a ludicrous map?

He shook his head, trying to clear all the idiocy, or fantasy, he had just witnessed. He needed to keep calm, he needed to think things through, and he knew that he wouldn't survive out here if he made a mistake. He took a few steps back in the village area, when he noticed that there were men gathering in it. It was the armored knights he had ran past. They seemed to be setting up a patrol of some sort, but for what reason?

Then, his mind stopped, "They can't be looking for me…can they?"

He didn't know for sure, but he didn't want to take that chance. If they thought he was some kind of lunatic, a danger to their town, or just plain trouble he knew they would lock him up. The fact that he couldn't speak their language just made it worse. And what language was this? Did Earth even have a language like this? He wasn't well versed in the languages of the world but…this tongue felt so alien.

"I should get back," Yes, back to the cottage where they wouldn't find him, "Better hurry."

He bent down to check that his shoes were tied, and he also tucked in the bottom of his jeans into his socks. Satisfied that everything was in order he made a dash toward the cottage and didn't look back. He ran and ran until he was sure they wouldn't catch him and took some time to rest on a boulder when his breath hitched. He was so tired, so weary, and he knew that if he didn't take a rest now he would likely collapse. Saito hadn't had a decent meal in a long while, and if he didn't get something in him soon he didn't know what he would do.

Fortunately he hadn't lost his way back to the cottage since he could…sense where the place was? No. That wasn't right. He couldn't sense where the cottage was exactly but he just knew where the girl was. He knew where to find her, how to find her, and knew the general direction where she may be in.

Deciding to trust his instincts, Saito stood up and walked through the creepy trees, the vast darkness, and the fireflies that started appearing around him. Under normal circumstances, they would have been beautiful but he was afraid for his life.

Not only was he in a strange place, that looked a lot like a Fantasy videogame, but he couldn't speak their language either. And then something worse hit him. He just realized that the girl seemed to understand what he said, and yet he didn't speak their language? What? How? Why? Why didn't she tell him he was talking different from f the rest? Why did she make him believe he could communicate with them.

"Unless it wasn't my voice she was hearing…" That thought stopped. He didn't want to dwell on telepathy, or things o thatf nature. He was over thinking things. Things like telepathy didn't exist. But then a floating island (according to the map) shouldn't exist either, "Hah! I know it's a joke right…a practical joke."

He looked for the cameras, looked up at the sky, through the woods, and on the ground. "Maybe they're in my clothes."

Saito started removing his clothes, first his shirt, then his pants, then, when he got to his boxers, he stopped, "If there really are cameras here…I better not."

He didn't want people streaming his nudity online –if this was some reality game show- and he preferred to stay warm. The night was bringing in cold and the fireflies around him didn't make him feel any warmer. However there was one thing strange about the fireflies. They seemed to be gathering around something and Saito had a feeling that he should follow what they were gathering around.

But before he could follow those insects he had to take a look back, check if anyone was following him, and then look around for traps. If this was a game show then there might be booby traps to make the viewers more entertained.

He frowned at that idea and turned back to the flying glow lights. "Where are they going?" Saito rubbed his eyes as he got closer and closer to the mass of glowing insects. "And why are there so many…what's that?"

He stopped walking to take a look at the sight in front of him and then his ears caught sound. It was the sound of something playing, the sound of music, of some kind of string instrument. Saito had never heard something so melodious in his life and immediately stopped to listen. Even though he was tired he felt himself slowly healing from the sound of music.

It was almost like magic.

…

…

Saito had never played an instrument in his life. His parents didn't have the money to send him to lessons, and he didn't have the motivation to do well in the arts. He liked to think he was a good judge at music though, because he watched plenty of anime. The openings and endings of many shows carried many rhythmic sounds, but they all lacked something the song he was hearing lacked.

Mystery.

The song he was hearing was in a language he couldn't understand. But no matter how he looked at he understood the intent behind it. He could feel the soul of the singer, and feel himself drawing closer and closer to the voice. The Demon Moons in the night sky, one blue, one red, smiled down at him with their glow and he could see the fireflies around him spinning in some intricate dance. He didn't dance like this but he felt like he should.

His steps however couldn't go past a large bark because his feel were numb from running earlier. So he did the next best thing and looked up at the sound, no, you can't actually look up at sound, but you can look at the mouth, the instrument, and object that is making it. That's what he tried to do at least, but the lights in the night sky were blocking his vision, first the moon light then the floating insects.

That was sad because he really did want to see who was singing. Because the sound made him feel energized, made him feel alive, and made him want to dance, be carried out with the tide of her fortune. Though her fortune was sad, as he could tell from the song, and lonely as well.

"Wait.." he whispered. "Don't go…" Saito took a few more steps and the song kept growing loader. The string instrument, something that looked like a harp, glowed gold in the moon light and he could almost see the outline of the glowing figure sitting on top of the tree. His eyes danced around the body, the body that was distinctly female but he still couldn't get a good look at her. Because of the shadow that was cast in an odd angle around her, along with the glowing insects that surrounded him, forcing him to close his eyes on numerous occasions.

But he did know one thing about the singer's looks. She, for it certainly was a she, was absolutely beautiful. And she wore a dress that hugged her body. Saito couldn't get a good look at the body, but the proportions were beyond imagination, in fact it would have to be one of imagination, because the outline of the body said that her chest made up half her mass. That couldn't be right, and so he deduced this must be another delusion.

But did delusions have sound? Did delusions have taste and did it have smell as well? For he could smell her too. She smelt like the forest, like the trees, like the life that gathered here and grew. She felt like the wind, free, ever moving, always trying to find her way home. Saito was no poet, but Saito was a boy of instinct.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" he called out.

Of course sometimes his instincts got him into trouble.

The figure in the moon light, with her golden hair, for now he could see the reflection of the moon, looked at him for a second and then Saito blinked. And when he opened his eyes she was gone. The flies around him were still there, ever glowing, but she was gone. Her song left him, her scent left him, and he felt alone again.

Yet he wasn't alone as that singer.

For at least he had someone.

"I'd better get back to the cabin," he said to himself. "Better ask that girl if there are others around."

He noticed then how close he was to the cottage and sighed. Good. So he hadn't been distracted by that song of sadness. That would have been bad, and in more ways than one. He doubted losing himself to some magical girl, for what else could she be?, would earn him any survival points. Saito prided himself on being a survivor –whether it was living off rations, ramen, or just plain games- and he would be damned if he was going to get lost in a forest due to a siren's song.

"I'm back!" he called out.

He didn't get an answer.

"Are you there?"

He didn't get an answer, until the door of the cabin opened. The figure wore the customary cloak and hat and nodded to him. Saito smiled at that and walked past the bushes and toward the cottage. It seemed the girl was in better spirits than she was before. Something must have happened while he was gone, and maybe she was worried he would never come back?

Nah. Who would want him? He was a nobody, a nothing, and he wasn't much of a student or person. Saito managed to get to the door without tripping on the numerous roots on the ground and looked down to see mould. "There's a lot of green stuff growing on this cottage," he said. "Maybe I should clean that up?"

The girl nodded. She must have given up trying to make him NOT do any work. That was something he appreciated because he needed to earn his keep around her, and she was the best way to do it. Plus, he didn't have anywhere to go, and he knew he would be in huge trouble if someone found him. After what happened to the police –wait a minute.

"Uh, I have a question."

The girl stopped cooking their meal and looked at him.

"This is going to be strange."

The girl didn't make any comment on that. She put her hands together and looked down.

"But…can you understand me?"

The hooded figure nodded her head twice.

Saito sighed. "Good. Now this is going to be even stranger."

The girl waited.

"When I talk…do you understand my words?"

The girl didn't say anything for a minute, then two, then three. "Hello?"

She swayed from side to side, fidgeting every time he eyed her critically.

"…I thought as much." Saito said, putting his hands on his face. "I…you can hear my thoughts?"

The girl shook her head

"But you know what I'm saying?"

She nodded.

"And I'm guessing you don't know my language?"

The girl shook her head.

"Ahh, that's going to be a problem." Saito grabbed a mug from a desk and walked to the sink.

The two didn't talk to each other until Saito decided to break the awkward silence. "Do you know that I can talk to you but not anyone else?"

The girl didn't respond.

"I thought you'd say that." Saito put the cup down and stared at her. "But I wished you didn't."

Saito was not sure more than ever that the girl had an ulterior motive for bringing him to this cabin. Out of all the people in this area only she understood what he was saying, and she didn't understand his words? What was left then? Could she read his body language? Could she read his mind? Was she reading his mind right now? He tried not to show any fear, but he knew it wasn't working.

The girl took a step back. "Hold on, don't go." He took a step forward. "I won't force the issue but I'm wondering why you can sorta understand what I'm saying, but no one else can…"

It was a good question. It wasn't hard, or tricky, or even something very important. Why wouldn't she give him the answer? There had to be a reason and the more he eyed her, the more he realized she knew more than what she was letting on. What was her secret? And why was she so afraid of him?

"Do I scare you?"

She nodded.

"Would it help if I promised you I won't hurt you."

She shook her head.

"Then why do this to me? You know I don't belong here-"

He stopped. He didn't belong here. This place, this realm, this forest, this world even.

"It's all like .hack/signs...it's all a video game..."

...

...

Saito cleaned up the house while the girl chopped wood. Once she was done the two got ready to make dinner. Saito had never cooked food like this before, but he was more than willing to learn. The girl wasn't a good instructor, but she was patient. The boy made sure to follow her movements and tried not to make a single mistake.

He didn't know how his meal turned out but when it was done the two were able to eat it. He guessed that was a good thing. The other alternative was throwing the food out, and they didn't want to do that. Food was scarce enough in this place without having to get rid of it, and the less they wasted, the more they gained. He looked at the girl's portion and frowned.

She had taken a small portion once again.

Why? Because she was just like that. She was kind, honest, thoughtful, and didn't ask him for anything. Saito was starting to feel more and more like a mooch the longer he stayed here, so he decided to take the next course of action in his plan. Assuming this place worked like a video game, he would need to make a quest, and there was no time like the present to start one.

"I wanted to ask you about where we are."

The girl looked up from her meal.

"So I was looking at the map and I realized this continent is divided into large land masses."

She nodded again.

"And I've noticed we are in…where?"

The girl didn't answer and he didn't expect her to.

"Are we in Albion?"

The girl titled her head.

"Yes. Albion, the floating island, Is that were we are?"

The girl seemed to be thinking because it took a while to shake her head. Saito sighed at that. He was pretty sure they were in Albion. Unless the girl was consciously trying to make herself forget there was just no way they could NOT be in Albion.

"Well it seems like I learned a lot about this place today."

The girl looked up from her meal.

"There are mages, dragons, knights, and strange monsters here…" He let the rest hang.

So far the girl didn't seem surprised by this answer so this was the norm of the place. This wasn't going to trigger any event, and he needed an event to finish this game. He thought about how to approach the question he was going for and came up with nothing. In fact the question he wanted to ask would cause a lot of trouble -if she took it the wrong way.

No. Better to ask when the time is right.

"This is a pretty good meal, isn't it?" he asked.

The girl nodded.

Saito smiled. He knew his cooking was terrible but she was willing to overlook that. "Sorry. I'll try to do better tomorrow."

He really would.

…

…

Saito's theory of whether this was really like .hack/sign was starting to bear fruit the next day, when he visited the shops in town. It seemed that he had gotten himself on a wanted list, not as a criminal, but as some kind of crazy person or an illegal alien. Honestly, he couldn't tell which, and didn't particularly care. What he did care about was getting supplies for their house, or rather the house he was currently living in.

The girl had been reluctant to talk to him about this world; only squeaking and scurrying away, looking afraid when he wanted to know the history of the place. Without being able to talk to anyone he wasn't able to do much so far, but knew one thing: they needed new pots and pans.

The cottage was in excellent shape, the girl took care of that, but never went out to get anything she really needed. She could have traded all that wood for something like new gardening wear, brooms, or even a mop, but she didn't. Instead she lived like a recluse and depended on absolutely no one.

Part of Saito liked that about her, but another part felt sorry for her. That's why he was out here today getting things that she needed. The problem was, he couldn't speak their language so he had to get her to write a note on a piece of paper of things he could trade for. Sure, he may not be able to understand a word of what the man in front of him was saying, but he got the general idea.

...

...

The iron smith wanted all the wood he brought with him for a few pans.

That didn't sit well with Saito, but what else could he do? The armored knights were looking for him, some of the people in the bazaar looked at him suspiciously, and the girl was counting on him. How was he going to explain to her that he had caused such a fuss with the law around here?

"Damn, this is so complicated."

Stopping at a shop where they solved shovels and gardening wear, Saito dropped the remaining wood he had brought with him. He glanced at the logs and sighed. They were of excellent quality. The girl knew where to find the best dried wood, and the fact that it was of this quality was astounding. She didn't even need to cut down an old tree. In fact, he suspected that she didn't want to.

One of those nature type people she was, the youngest Hiraga figured.

"I just wish we'd get more for what I'm trading." He hated that they were being ripped off. Like a lot of young males, Saito liked a good deal. He liked to bargain where he could, and loved to save money. Just giving away their supplies wasn't good enough for him, but what could he do? They both needed to escape the law, or at least he suspected, and until things cleared up he was stuck here.

"Better make the most of today." Saito walked past the stalls and into a library. "Let's see now…" He was about to look for books, even if he couldn't read a single one of them, when someone stopped him. It was an old matron of about fifty. She was wearing a deep purple dress that covered her entire body.

Saito tried to move around her, but she wouldn't budge. He tried to back away, then come another time, but she was guarding her domain like it were her own brood.

"Yes. This is looking more and more like a video game." So far he could trade wood for supplies, and there were people who guarded regions of access from the main character. Then there was the whole fantasy element he was starting to discover.

"Oi, the dragons are going to fly!" a boy shouted.

Saito turned to see a very common show in these parts. Sometimes a local soldier would come by to show off their dragons. The dragons would fly around and not give a single person a ride, no matter how much they begged. The riders themselves seemed to wear better clothes than most of the people here and carried what looked like magic wands.

Saito was no genius, but even he could tell that they were likely magicians, that's what usually occurred in video games such as this. Didn't Tsukasa from .hack/sign carry some kind of staff? Didn't that wizard from some other television show carry one like that too? Magic in this place revolved around waving those wands and creating elements, or so it seemed.

"Show us another fireball!" The kids were trying to get the soldier to show off their tricks. "Pleasseeee!"

Saito watched the disdain on the soldier's face. He was more than willing to take the money, but was unwilling to give them a good show. Saito didn't know anything about the currency of this area but he could tell people here were poor, and the man was getting a lot of currency from these gawkers.

Saito shook his head at that and turned away. He should probably go back to the forge to see if the man had his supplies ready. On the way, he found his wanted poster had been replaced with another. Apparently the police, or what equated to them, had actually discovered a real criminal and was after him. Saito wondered if this was the part where he got super powers and started on a quest.

Of course that couldn't be, could it? For a game to give him a quest he needed something amazing to happen, either a very tragic event or some kind of magician telling him he must complete a certain task. Protect a Princess? Maybe even save an Elf Princess like in Zelda? That would be awesome, but he doubted that was going to happen. For one thing there didn't seem to be any elves around here.

"Hey, watch where you are going!" someone shouted. As usual, Saito didn't know what they said but had almost run the guy over so he understood the intent.

"Sorry," he said, bowing several times. If the man got nasty and reported him to the police, the day would be a bust.

The man looked at Saito carefully, then at the wanted poster, then at Saito again, and sneered.

The man walked away and Saito gave a sigh of relief. For a second he thought he was going to have to fight someone off,and not be sure he would be able to win. That man seemed powerful, too powerful for his own good. In fact, most of the people in this area seemed perfectly fit, like they had been used to hard labor.

The only ones who didn't look fit were the rich looking magicians that carried staffs and wands. Saito guessed that they worked outside of manual labor, perhaps something in the realm of academics. In any case, this wasn't his problem, and it would stay that way until he found out for certain what he was doing here. And how he was going to get out of this virtual reality video game.

"Thanks, sir," Saito said. "Here is the rest of what I owe you." He put the blocks of wood down trying not to trip. He had allowed a nearby stall to keep his goods until he made the negotiations ,but carrying the blocks of wood was no easy task. The girl in the cloak helped him with transport all the way to the edge of town, but she refused to enter.

Saito didn't ask her why, even if it was a good time to, but instead went about his work. As soon as negotiations were finished, he packed all his supplies in a bag the girl had handed him earlier. It seemed to be made of leather. Not just any leather, but leather from a wild predator. Saito shivered at the idea of the girl killing and tanning something to make the leather bag. Then again, her cloak seemed to have brown leather strapping and that didn't scare him, but having to hold this material was a bit uncomfortable, knowing where it could have come from.

…

…

That night there was a storm and Saito shivered uncontrollably as the winds battered at the cabin. He didn't know how the girl could live like this, all alone in the forest, with the elements the way they were. He wondered if the windows would shatter any second now because they creaked, but figured the girl had done something to stop that. If not they could do some repairs tomorrow, and the both of them could get it done as soon as the night was through.

Then Saito figured out something he had been dreading since the rain started. Up until this night he hadn't complained one bit about the storm, or about the cold, or that he had to sleep on the floor, but more and more the floor was turning colder. He looked down and pulled off the carpet from his body to find why that was the case. Every inch of the floor where his feet were was wet with icy water. He looked up and saw a leak on the roof.

He turned to face the sleeping girl, who he suspected never slept at night, an called out, "We have a leak."

The girl only moved around in her bed, and then she came out. Saito turned away so that she could put her hat on her head,and wrap the cloak around her body. Once that was done she moved to where he was currently sleeping and looked up. Saito couldn't see the expression she made, but he was pretty sure she wasn't happy about this. This was her house, and the elements were tearing it apart.

"I guess I'm gonna have a hard rest tonight, ain't I?" he said sheepishly.

The girl looked a bit nervous.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just sleep over there." He pointed to a place far away from the fire place.

The girl made no reply.

"Well. Nothing to do but get up and go." He made to stand up when the girl did something that surprised him.

She touched his shoulder. This was something she had never done before -well not when he was awake. She kept her distance and looked downright scared whenever he came near. He turned his face away, aware that his face was burning up. Girls had never touched him back in his old World. Back in Tokyo whenever he tried to ask someone out, he would choke up and fail miserably. Now in this dark, dank cabin he was with a possible deformed girl, and he felt the same way.

"I'm…err..do you want something?"

The girl slowly pointed her hand to her bed.

"No, you can't mean…."

She nodded

"You want me to sleep there?"

She nodded.

"But where are you going to sleep?"

She pointed to her bed again.

Saito stopped himself from gasping. The girl was offering to sleep with him? Well, not in THAT way but the idea was the same. Wasn't she aware he could take advantage of her? Then again her strength might tear him in half if he tried so maybe, just maybe he would give it a shot. He looked at her to confirm this and she nodded. Carefully Saito went to a place nearby the door and started putting on a shirt. When he slept he only wore his undershirt and boxers. Now he had to sleep with the girl, so getting a hard-on in the middle of the night was NOT a good thing. If anything it was likely to get him murdered in his sleep, even if the girl seemed too meek for her own good.

"Okay. I'm going to ask again. This is okay isn't it?" he laughed a little bit.

The girl just brought her sheets up to cover herself –as if she wasn't covered enough – and looked at him.

"Fine. I'll just be going in." He moved into the bed, slowly took a share of the sheets and turned away from her. His face was so red you could cook eggs on it, and his heartbeat was off the charts. He wondered if the girl was feeling the same, but he somehow doubted it. Who would ever feel like THAT when he was the one sharing a bed.

'Kami,' he thought, 'wish I was a bit manlier.'

He closed his eyes as these thoughts went through his mind and missed the head that turned to look at his back.

…

…

The girl made sure not to make a sound. If he knew she was watching him, he might wake up. She didn't want that. Not when he was shivering like this. She could tell he wasn't used to the cold and if this kept up he was going to catch a horrible disease. A disease was not something he could afford to catch because they had no doctor in these parts, and she couldn't pay them in money if there was.

So what could she do?

He was quickly going into deep sleep –something that surprised her- so she had some time to think about her next action. Her hands reached out to touch the muscles on his shoulder, and she felt his body temperature. It was burning up and if she didn't get it warmed up he could be in serious trouble.

"Mother, what should I do?" she whispered into the dark.

A bolt of lightning flashed, and a storm of water splashed onto her roof.

…

…

The girl made her decision the moment he started coughing, she knew what she had to do and thus put her blanket aside and dragged herself toward the shivering boy. Outside the thunderstorm was getting worse and inside was getting colder. She could hear the wind pummel through the cracks in the cabin wall and hear water drip from the ceiling. If she didn't warm him up now, she didn't want to think what would happen later.

Carefully she pressed her body against his own and felt him start to calm down. No. That wasn't accurate. His body temperature was rising, but so was his heartbeat. Maybe he sensed what she was doing? Maybe, but she doubted that, since he was in such a deep sleep. His breathing was still high, he was still sweating, and the groans escaping his mouth did not sound pleasant. What was she supposed to do now? Slowly she wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him to her. She allowed her body temperature to heat his.

This was something she had never done before. In the past her mother had done this to her, but the girl didn't think she would do this to anyone ever in her life. She was supposed to stay way from humans, yet at the same time her mother told her to always help people when they were in trouble. This boy, this boy who could be a tool of destruction, needed her help now and she would give it. But there was one problem with helping him.

The more time she spent with him, the more contact she made with him, and the more her memories came back. She felt like someone had pulled out trash she had been burying under mounds of dirt and bringing it to the surface. She could see the teachings of her mother more clearly, she could hear the lessons her mother drilled into her, and she could feel the presence of the Void she had tried desperately to escape.

Magic, to the girl, was rather scary as the last time she had seen it was when her mother used it. That day the villagers found them, that day when she heard the villagers scream in absolute and utter terror when her mother used her magic, and came back into the cabin covered in blood. Her body shivered and she pulled herself closer to the boy. What was he doing here? What purpose did the Left Hand of God come here for?

She was lonely, very true, but she didn't want to hurt no one. She didn't want to conquer nations, change destinies, or shape the world. The Left Hand of God, the Gundulf, the Gandalfr, the Slayer of a Thousand was an ancient familiar that hadn't been summoned since the Founder's Time. Darn. This wasn't good. Her mind was becoming sharper, more focused, and something else was coming out. She felt the need to call out to this familiar. She felt the need to make a contract with this familiar. With those feelings, she felt herself tug at him even closer to her body.

Of course what she didn't know was how close she was to making a contract with the boy. She couldn't possibly know that all the spellwork needed to make the contract had already been set up. She couldn't know that all she needed to do was reach out and kiss him and the runes on the boy's hand would appear. Had she known this she may not have gone so close to him, but she did and that's why the runes glowed.

"No…It can't be. I didn't make a contract with you…" But she didn't let go of him even as the runes on his hand glowed.

She watched in fascination as the runes showed the ancient language of the Founder, of the Elves, of creatures that lived thousands of years ago. She couldn't read what it said, but the distinct rune set was there. There were only a handful of runes that looked like that, and only two of them could belong to a human being.

His body seemed to be going back to normal as the runes glowed. But why would it glow? Could it be the effect of the contract? Was just being near her activating some part of it? No. That couldn't be. There had to be another reason why the runes glowed while she was near. She just couldn't figure out what. As far as she knew the only reason for it to glow was if she kissed him….

Her face blushed at the thought and she buried it on his back. He smelled nice. He didn't smell like the people of this country. She couldn't explain it, but it seemed like he was the type to keep himself clean. His hair carried an odd scent, like he spent his whole life cleaning it with perfume. Wherever he came from, he must have had access to lots of soaps and the like. She wished briefly that she had things like that, and then chided herself for wanting something so foolish.

Now was the time to help him. Now was the time to make sure he didn't hurt himself in his sleep, and that's what she would do, even if the runes on his hands glowed.

…

…

Saito's heart started racing when he felt a pair of melons press onto his back. His breathing became faster, more embarrassed, and he could feel himself change…down there. This was not good. The girl was probably trying to warm him up, and he was feeling this way. He knew he was a pervert, but getting off while he was direly cold? Only him, he thought. Only he could get horny in such horrible conditions.

Still, he had to admit the girl was taking a big step forward. He would never have expected her to do this for him, but now that she was he wouldn't take advantage of this. She had been nothing but kind to him, and turning around and burying his face into her cleavage would be a horrible way to say 'thank you' at a time like this.

Especially when his hand started to glow.

He didn't want to move his hand to check what the glow was all about, mostly because that would give away that he was awake, and he feared the girl would let him go. And he didn't really want to see what was happening either. The glow was not natural that was sure, and the glow just intensified the closer the girl got to him. Maybe she was doing this to him? Maybe this was her spell? But then what did it do?

The only thing the runes did was glow and make his body feel…good? When the runes glowed he felt himself healing, felt himself become stronger, and even felt a presence in his mind. What was that presence? He couldn't know. All he knew was the presence in his mind felt female. So maybe it was the girl? He had suspected that he had a telepathic link, of sorts, with the girl, but up to what level?

Could she tell what he was thinking? Could she tell how he was feeling?

"Gandalfrrrrr….."

He heard her whisper into his ear, purring almost like a kitten. Saito felt a bit afraid.

"The Left Hand of God, Gandalfr…."

Her voice had an echo, and Saito wasn't sure if the girl even knew what she was saying. Something was off about the way she pronounced…wait.

He could understand what she said.

"Rise Left Hand of God…"

...And still couldn't grasp the meaning behind it.


	3. Chapter 3

I would like to thank Umashido, Lithium-Flower567, greyrocks, timisnotmyname, StormyMonday, MAGNUM777, and Seigetsu Ren for looking over this story. The final chapter is being sent out in little bits to all my editors as we speak, so hopefully I'll have to ready by next week. This here is the build up before the climax: the calm before the storm. The next chapter will have all the action you've been waiting for in a hurricane, so don't worry if this is all sentimental. I've been asked about lemons for this fic, but unfortunately I just didn't have time. This is more of a short story with a start, middle, and end. Hopefully it'll inspire other Saito/Tiffa fics. There just aren't enough of them, well actually there is only one I can think of. Anyway, thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter. Kudos to you guys for sticking with me. As always don't forget to review, though that goes without saying.

* * *

**Part III: Magician and Familiar  
**

* * *

"We got you, ya scoundrel!"

Saito tried to break free as the armored knights pinned him into an alley. He didn't understand what was going on but he knew he this wasn't good. Were they arresting him? Judging by the way a bum was looking at him from his side of the alley that seemed to be the case. Though Saito had absolutely no idea why there were doing this.

He hadn't committed any crime, he hadn't harmed anyone, and he tried his best to stay out of the way of these people. He had come to the bazaar every once in a while to trade for goods. He didn't recall ever cheating anyone, if anything someone always cheated him. He looked down to see the wood the girl had chopped for him vanishing as the knights collected it. He called out to them. The boy wanted them to give it back but it was no use.

He just didn't understand what they were saying and he knew they certainly didn't know what he was saying. So he struggled and fought as they dragged him down the bazaar street, past the gawking people, and right into the station.

They put him on a seat as soon as he got in and started questioning him. Saito became increasingly irate when he realized the police wanted answers. He couldn't give them an answer, of course, because he didn't know their language, but they wanted one just the same.

And after he couldn't give them that, after they realized his vocabulary was more than useless they shoved him into a jail cell and locked away the key. Saito yelled at them to let him out, but it was no use. He turned to a prisoner he had to share his cell with and glowered.

This wasn't good. The girl was still waiting for him at the edge of the town. If she found out he was here, would she come for him? He wasn't sure, but after that night a few days ago anything could have happened.

He leaned against the jail walls and looked at the barred window. It was getting dark and it would be night soon. He heard a rattle and saw one of the guards holding what looked like food. Saito smiled at that. At least they were going to give him something to eat. He reached out for the bowl and the guard carefully laid it down on the floor.

The Japanese teen was grateful and approached the food carefully.

He wondered if this was the part where the guard would step on it, but fortunately that wasn't the case. If anything the guard looked jolly.

He looked at Saito and kept pointing to his clothes and shoes. He was gesturing to things on Saito's form and even pointing to his hair. It was true that Saito stood out among the people here. His skin color, hair, as well as eyes didn't blend in very well. He also spoke with a different tongue and was known to do strange things by the standards of the people living here. Had he unintentionally angered someone important? Saito couldn't recall doing that, but he did remember giving one of those Dragon riders the cold shoulder when the guy grabbed him for money.

But what was he going to do now? How was he going to get out of this without the girl? He couldn't communicate with the people and the girl would probably wait. That was the kind of person she was; the kind that waited for others to get back no matter how long the journey.

He sighed into his hand and looked up at the guard who was still talking about him. Saito's eyes trailed across the prison and tried to find something he could use to escape. Escape came to his mind because he didn't know what else to do. He could be stuck here forever and the more time he delayed, the more his strength was going to be zapped. Plus, in video games the main character always found a way to escape.

His eyes went down to his hand and looked at the strange mark that had appeared on his hand. It was a strange dark rune. He couldn't make heads or tails of what it said, but it seemed to be fading away. The funny thing is ever since he got this fading rune on his hand he could do certain chores a lot better. He had gotten pretty good with the axe the day after sharing the girl's bed, and he didn't feel as tired.

Could this be some kind of magic spell? It must be, but how long was it going to last? The runes were fading and if he didn't use the powers of those runes now, what would he do then? He didn't want to think about it. He knew what he needed to do. He needed to get back to the girl and the only way to do that was to escape this guard.

"Yah done with that lad?" the guard asked.

Saito didn't know what those words meant, but he understood the intent. He put the fork back into the bowl and was about to give it back to him when he realized something.

When he held the fork he felt stronger, faster, and lighter.

"Lad, give me back the bowl."

Saito put the fork behind himself. The guard did not look amused and opened the door to get inside.

"Lad, I'm not going to ask you again."

Saito made a dash for the open door behind him, as the prisoner who shared his prison bolted up to do the same. The guard was momentarily caught off guard at this and didn't know who to go after. Saito was too fast to go after though, so the man went after the first prisoner and yelled some kind of warning. Immediately the hall was storming with armored knights and Saito had to use all his speed and strength to dodge them.

He held the fork in his hand and stabbed it like a sword. It was completely and absolutely stupid but this was the best weapon he had. Even if it didn't work Saito acquired power from the tool and felt his body become lighter. His legs moved swiftly, his body agile, while his mind sharpened. He weaved in and out from the throng of guards, past the prison cells, and back into the office.

The person managing the office yelled at him and drew a sword but Saito ignored him and ran into the window.

"Kami that smarts!" He had gotten a few pieces of glass lodged in his arm.

Realizing he didn't have time to worry about that, Saito ran down the street as the armored knights chased him. He didn't look back, kept running forward, and yelled at anyone that got in his way. At some point, a guy jumped in front of him with a small knife and threw it at him.

To Saito's astonishment, he actually caught it and felt more power flow through him. Was this like a video game? When you got a weapon your attack points boosted? That must have been what was happening because his speed and strength increased even more after latching onto the knife.

He was running so fast that he could see the forest in front of him and the girl hiding behind the tree as well. "Run!" he shouted. "They might catch me!"

The girl still didn't move from her position, even as the guards were starting to catch up, and Saito had to curse himself for getting her into this mess. She didn't deserve this. She didn't do anything wrong. And why had the guards come after him? Better question, what was up with gaining power from metallic weapons? What game concept was this? Wouldn't it have been better if he had the super strength all along, and not have to touch something sharp to reveal any of his powers?

"Arrows! Fire!"

…

…

The girl didn't know what to do. She heard the villagers talking about capturing someone. Someone who the knights were hunting for, which meant they were going to be trailing him with a furious number of people. What they wanted, the girl had no idea, but it didn't take long for her to find out. With her large ears she was able to pick up the whole conversation, from her place among the trees, and what she heard frightened her.

Someone had found odd devices in the forest and, not only that, found some identification which revealed who the devices belonged to. The local nobles were more than just curious about the odd items and sent out back to hunt the person down. What worried the girl was how she fit into this. When she had taken the boy away from the tree, the place he almost died at, had she left something behind? She tried to figure out if she did and came up with odd memories. A black pouch had fallen out of his pocket, and something else too.

Some kind of black device made from material she wasn't aware of. At the time getting the boy to her cottage was the priority, so she didn't pay much attention to what she left behind in her wake. Now, however, she was starting to regret that.

Her actions had led to his capture. She knew he had been captured, because her ears picked up some conversation on them locating the boy, the fiend, or scoundrel, that the nobles wanted. The cover story was he had stolen something from the nobles, not that he held items the nobles were interested in, and the girl knew the longer they held him the less likely he was to break out of there. They would torture, beat, and mind-rape him until he confessed, and that would be a problem.

She knew perfectly well that they, the guards, would ask where he had been living, and if they found out where she lived, she would be dead. There were no two ways around that. Her only chance of survival was to leave now. Leave while she still could. But she didn't take it. She couldn't take it . Not when the boy she had saved was held captive.

Her mind played scenes of her saving him. She could run in, maybe hurt a few of the guards –wait that wouldn't work. She wasn't supposed to harm people. Her mother would be angry at her if she did that. She could ask someone for help by pretending to be human, but if the wind caught her the right way, her ears would be revealed.

As she pondered her options, they became more and more bleak. In reality, she couldn't do anything. She could only hope that by some miracle he managed to find his way out. She could only hope that the lingering touch from last night still gave him some kind of power.

"Arrows! Fire!"

She turned her head to the left. There he was. He was running to the forest, running toward her, and she could see the panic in his movements. He was desperately trying to get away from them with everything he had, and within the next few seconds he would collapse. There wasn't any way he could keep up his current speed.

"What are you doing!" he yelled. "Run!"

That was another problem. If she ran now, he would fall. If he fell, he would be captured. If he was captured, he would reveal her secrets. But, most of all, she would lose someone who could stand her. She would lose someone she could spend time with, and someone who her OTHER self seemed to favor. Why? She knew why. She knew why her OTHER self favored him. His power, his hidden power which could shake the very foundation of their culture.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that power. Now she had to save him. His knees buckled, as an arrow hit them, and he was going to fall. Making a quick decision she jumped off her place on the tree and ran towards the guards. With speed greater than any human could hope for, the girl caught the boy before he fell to the ground.

"Let me go!" he yelled. "No sense if both of us are caught." He glared at her, but she could see relief there as well. She knew he knew she was powerful, strong, and quick. She smiled nervously underneath her hood, and looked ahead of the people coming toward them. They paused for a second, only to analyze how much of a threat she was, before charging again.

Deciding that fighting would only end in trouble she turned her back to them and was about to run, when what she feared happened. The wind, the violent ghastly wind, picked at her hood and flung it back. The boy was too tired to look up, so he didn't catch it, but the town's people did. She turned away from them, but it was too late. They had seen her ears.

"It can't be!"

"Monster!"

"Demon!"

"Perhaps we should stop…" They did so. The legends of what her race did to people were solid. They were true, and she knew that deep down, she could do what her mother could do. They had the right to be afraid. But now what was she going to do? Now they had seen her. They wouldn't leave her alone. Her breathing quickened at that realization, and she could feel sweat pour down her forehead. Mistake. This was a horrible mistake. Her house would be burned down, they would come for her, and she would be hunted down like a dog.

"They aren't chasing us," the boy huffed, still looking down. "Never mind! Let's run for it." He stood upright and grabbed her arm. "RUN!"

Without thinking she put her hood back on, and let him drag her. His speed was much slower than her own, but they were making good distance. She took a glance behind herself to see if they would follow, and saw that they didn't. No. They would come later. They would come with a larger army, and they would kill her while she was most vulnerable.

…

…

"We need to talk," Saito said. He opened the door to the cabin and looked back at her. She looked away, not meeting his eyes, like she always did, only this time there was a hint of guilt in her movement. Emotions, like expressions, are interpreted by those who see it, but Saito was especially in tune with how this girl felt. He needed to know why. What had she done to him to make him align with her. What had she done to him to tie Saito to her this way?

"You know what it's about, don't you?" he asked her. She nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. He let her pass, and she walked into her home, paused to look around, then found herself a seat on a chair. It was the chair closest to the fire place, the place with the most amount of warmth. This told Saito that her story was going to be long. He nodded. This was fine with him, if she needed a long time to explain things to him, then so be it. He needed answers immediately.

"When we were chased, well, when I was chased, they got a glimpse of you, didn't they?" he asked.

She nodded.

"And when they saw your face, they stopped." He let that sink in as he took a seat in front of her. There wasn't a seat there, but he managed to borrow a stool from nearby. "I want to know why."

She opened her mouth, or at least from what he could tell. That cloak of hers was seriously a bother. He waited for her to say something, and waited some more as she fidgeted. This wasn't good. Saito wasn't stupid. He knew the town's people were going to come after them at some point or other. Now that they had a trail to follow, they would find them that much faster.

"I need to know," he said. "Please, you need to tell me everything you've been hiding from me."

She stopped fidgeting long enough to look at him, then looked at him some more. She watched him for a moment and Saito looked back. The shadow within the hood had a face, and in the afternoon light he could see the outline of that face. It was soft, smooth, and she had blond hair that covered her eyes. She was a rather striking girl, if he did say so himself. For all he knew she was just a very young looking woman. Still, he could dream, couldn't he?'

"Well," he asked. "Will you tell me?"

He waited for her to say no. If her secret was really that bad, he doubted she would divulge it to him. Though the town's people might trigger something. She might need his help, well, he certainly needed hers. So working together was the best course of action. The problem was he couldn't work with her unless she trusted him. That's what he was asking for. He was asking for trust, for a bit of information, and faith. He wouldn't betray her, betray the secret she had. She was all he had in this strange new world.

"I," he heard a voice. "I…I…I…" It was soft and timid. "I…I…I…" It was stuttering and scared too. "I…I'm not sure what to say." The girl looked down. "I've never had to tell anyone this before."

Saito was too stunned by the gentleness of her voice to get the last part, but when he did he could only reply in a "What?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure where to start." She rubbed her arms together and continued to stare down. "I just…never had anyone to tell this to before."

"Then you can start from the beginning," Saito said. "Start with what you are exactly." He had figured out that she wasn't human, that much was for certain. Those strange mutations that he saw in the shadow of her hood could be anything between horns or spikes on the sides of her head. He didn't want to get a good look at them, but he wasn't going to be fooled by some demon. Video games always portrayed demons as deceivers. He doubted she was trying to trick him, but you could never be too careful.

"Please, I don't want to tell you that."

"Why?" he asked. "Are you some kind of monster?" He looked at her back, and checked for wings ready to sprout and gouge out his eyes. "Because even if you are, I don't care. I need your help and you need mine. You need to tell me why you live in this forest."

She looked up, trembling, and shook her head. "No. I can't."

"Yes you can!"

"No! I can't!"

He stopped. He had never heard her yell before. It wasn't a loud shout. He had heard worse. But the way her voice cracked as she screamed at him told him of her pain. She was terrified beyond reason to tell him her secret. It must have been bad, really bad. For a moment he thought of pulling back, giving her some space, but then he heard the sound of villagers in the back of his mind.

He resolved his emotions. "No. You need to tell me who you are."

She turned away. "I don't think that's such a –ahhh!"

He pulled at her hood. She was faster than him, so he almost missed his chance, but he had the perfect opportunity. She was close and had her guard down. He hated doing this, but he needed her to face the music. She wasn't just risking her life not telling him what she was, but his as well. He needed to know what she was or he couldn't protect her.

"No!" She covered her ears and shoved him away. Her hat clutched on his hands, he tumbled to the floor. Quickly he looked at her as she backed onto the wall, still covering her ears. His back hurt, his hands hurt, and he could feel his ears ringing. But this wasn't the time to lie down. "Sorry," he said. "But I don't have time."

He got up and watched her trembling face. It was pretty, no, beautiful actually. He had seen pictures of supermodels from America, Europe, and other places in the world. She had that kind of face. It was round, lean, and still angular. Her eyes were blue, like the sky, while her hair was long and blond. It was straight at the sides, but curled at the front in a very fashionable set of bangs. Her nose was upturned, and her cheeks were puffy and deep red.

Over all she seemed like a perfect model.

Except for her ears.

"So that's what they were," he whispered. "He looked at the ears she was covering with her hands. Those strange points that came out from the hood." He shook his head. "That's what you were hiding from me…" He let that hang.

She nodded. "I didn't want you to see." She slowly let go of her ears. She couldn't cover them. They were just too big, and her hands were far too small. "I was afraid."

He blinked. "I don't understand," he said. "Why would I be afraid of an…elf?" He didn't know if that was the correct term, but figured that was the best answer.

She stood there, just looking at him, her eyes blinked several times. "Aren't people afraid of elves?" she asked.

Saito shook his head. "No. I'm not afraid of elves, but why would people be afraid of them?" He had never seen an evil elf before. Even in video games elves tended to be the good guys. The only evil elves he had seen were the dark elves from Record of Lodoss Wars, and that dark elf had been smoking hot, all lean, tanned, and bleached hair –he was getting off track.

"You really don't know?" she asked. Her eyes looked at him in surprise. "You really haven't heard what elves do here?"

Saito looked out the window, it was getting dark, or it would be dark soon. "No. I have no idea." He bit his lower lip. "But I'm guessing it can't be good."

She nodded. "It's not, Mister, but it's a long story."

Saito relaxed and gave her a smile. "I've got time." He picked up his chair and slowly put it in front of her. He directed her to sit down. "Take a seat."

She looked at her seat carefully and froze. "I need to know," he said. "I'm sorry for what I did but I need to know why I can talk to you, but no one else."

She reluctantly nodded and took a seat as he had directed. "Where should I start?" she asked resentfully.

"Tell me about elves, why are they feared here?"

She looked down. "Elves are dangerous. They can bring down armies of men."

"Mages too?" Saito asked. He had seen the magic users in these parts and they were nothing to laugh at.

She nodded. "Mages too."

Saito mulled that over. These elves must be pretty powerful to be able to do that. "How can elves do that?"

Here was where she closed her mouth. "I don't want to say."

"It has something to do with me doesn't it?"

She stiffened, but refused to look at him. Saito rubbed the back of his skull, he shouldn't have blurted that out like that. He guessed the elves had their own brand of magic, otherwise he wouldn't have healed as quickly as he did, nor would those strange markings on his hands appear.

"I'm begging you, I need to know what kind of magic elves use." He considered putting a hand on her shoulder, but didn't want to risk it. She didn't know him very well, and despite how pretty she was, Saito liked to stay alive for the next battle. He wouldn't be taken in by her looks, he was too scared for that. "Please!"

She sighed and said "Elves use ancient and…void magic."

That got a raised eyebrow from Saito. "Void magic?" He had travelled through a void to get to this world, or at least from what he could remember. There were wormholes and holes in reality from where he was travelling from, and he could only guess this Void magic had something to do with it. After all, he had been sucked from his world from a gap in reality.

"Void magic," the girl said softly, "is a magic that cancels out other magical spells."

"Oh." Saito didn't know how this part related to him. "Okay."

"It's the legendary fifth element too, I think."

"What?"

The girl looked at a wall, giving him a brief profile of her face. She was pale, paler than snow, making her red lips stand out against them, like blood against a white cutting board. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable. No one should be this striking, it just wasn't fair.

"In this land, there are five elements," she said. "Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire."

"You only said four," Saito pointed out.

She nodded. "And then there is the fifth, Void."

"Which is the canceller of all four based on what you said."

She looked at him timidly, and nodded again. Saito felt better seeing her reactions. At least it told him she wasn't hiding her meekness behind that hood. Sure, her face was bright red from the proximity she had to him, but this was probably good for her. The girl probably hadn't had many people to talk for, well, ever.

"I think so," she said, "I don't know for sure. I've only read what my mom left me."

Saito looked at her ears. "Your mother?"

The girl realized where his eyes were headed to. "Yes," she said quietly. "My mother…the elf."

This was the part he had been waiting for.

"I guess I should tell you why I live here," she said timidly.

"That's a good place to start," Saito said cheerfully.

She bit her lips. "Alright," she rubbed her hands together, while she shook her knees. "I'll tell you why I'm here."

Saito nodded and leaned back on his chair. This was going to be interesting.

…

…

The girl took a deep breath and explained her situation to the traveler. She started with her name. Her name was Tiffania Westwood. She was an elf. No, she had corrected herself. She was only a half elf. Her mother had been an elf, while her father had been a human. She had no idea how, or why, her father accepted her mother, or vice-versa, but she was sure they loved each other. Of course, that wasn't the whole story, not even close.

For the traveler to understand her situation, Tiffania had to start at the very beginning of the tale. The start of the Elven Wars, when mankind battled these thousand year old creatures into the pits of the desert. She had to start with the history of the founders, and go even deeper to the secrets of the world. Secrets that were held by only a few scholars. And she would have to say this quickly.

So she gave him an abridged version. "Elves are the natural enemies of humans. Or at least I think so. A long time ago there was a war. Many people died, and in the end the elves were driven to the vast desert. I think they wandered for a while, but they eventually built their own small kingdoms there." She paused to let that sink in. "However, the relations between elves and people haven't been good."

"What do you mean," Saito asked. "The humans won, didn't they?"

Tiffania shook her head. "I don't think so, I told you they were driven back to the desert, and many people had died." She bit her lip. "Elves died too, but for every one elf thousands of humans had to be sacrificed." The boy's eyes widened. "And back then nobles were sending scores of people to deal with elves."

The boy shook his head. "Impossible." He looked into her eyes. "How can that many people die from a single elf?"

The girl looked down. On it was a ring. The ring carried a stone. "Ancient and Void Magic." She looked up from the ring, noticing him staring at it. "I've read my mother's books and I've read what elves could do."

The boy nodded. "And they could do just about anything I think. They could move faster than the wind, they could burn down towns with a wave of their hands, and their physical capabilities were immense." She smiled grimly. "You've seen how fast I am. My mother was much faster, much stronger, and far more silent. You wouldn't even know when she was behind you…"

The boy looked a bit nervous. "That's why we had to hide from everyone." She sighed. "If we were caught, they would send armies to capture us."

The boy interrupted her. "You just said US as in you were more than one person."

Tiffania nodded. "Back then it was just me and my mother. Before I lived here I used to travel with my mother from place to place. We could never stay in one location because we would always be discovered." She had something in her eyes, but she held them in. "My mother wanted to resolve her problems peacefully, but she was never given the chance."

The boy frowned. "I can see why, if what you say is true." He rubbed the back of his head. "Was she really that powerful?" He still looked unconvinced.

The girl took a deep breath to steady herself. She couldn't blame him for not knowing. He was an outsider, a summoned creature of sorts, and it would take him a while to get used to this new land. She had no idea where he came from, so he couldn't be held responsible for not knowing the political climate of the continent. "When I was six, a group of villagers found our home." She wrapped her arms around herself. "They were banging on our door and demanding we come out." She paused to let him understand that. "I was scared that they were going to kill us, but mother reassured me she wouldn't let that happen, so she went outside."

The boy looked worried. "Was your mother alright?" Saito didn't like the idea of a single woman having to face that many people. "She wasn't killed, was she?"

Tiffania shook her head, ignoring the faux pas he made about the 'killed' comment. "No, she wasn't, but people died that day."

"Who?" the boy asked.

"Everyone who came knocking on our door. Men, women, children, and the elderly." She sighed. "They were outside telling us to leave, and mother refused. She told them she wanted to resolve the problems peacefully, but then they threatened us with death." She looked at him pleadingly. "You have to understand that my mother was not a bad person. What happened next wasn't her fault."

The boy nodded. He looked like he knew what was going to happen. He was chewing his lips in distaste and grimacing as she told her story.

"They drew weapons," she said, "but my mother drew her own weapons as well."

"Magic," the boy said, "the Ancient or Void magic you were talking about."

She nodded. "And then I heard screaming." She trembled a little. "And then they were gone."

The boy didn't say anything to that. What could he say? The girl had just told him she had heard villagers come for her head when she was younger, and her mother had turned the tables on them. She had killed women and children with a flick of her power, and allowed her daughter to hear it. Perhaps that wasn't her intention but the end result was the same.

"I see," the boy said. He let a moment pass between them. "I'm sorry."

She didn't answer.

"I don't know what to say."

Tiffania shook her head. "You don't have to say anything Mister…"

The boy smiled. "Saito."

The girl smiled back at him. "I like that name." She tilted her head. "I don't know why."

Saito laughed.

"You know, that still doesn't explain why I can talk to you," Saito said. To be honest, it wasn't so much talk as it was communicating. He just knew what she was saying, and she likewise. "There's gotta be a reason for that."

The girl nodded. "I suppose I should start with Void."

"The Fifth element?"

She nodded. "The last Void user had two familiars. The first was the Right Hand of God, and the other was the Left Hand of God, the Gandalfr."

"You said that to me," Saito whispered. "Back while I was asleep, you whispered that, and marks on my hands started to appear." He looked at his hand. "It's gone now but for a while I felt like a super hero." He smiled. "Was that some kind of spell?"

The girl shook her head. "No, that was close contact with me. You see I'm a Void user and you're…"

"I'm?"

"You are…"

"Yes?"

She looked down. "You're a Gandalfr."

Silence. Saito blinked several times, because he couldn't be hearing her correctly. He wasn't a familiar, he wasn't an animal, and he sure as hell wasn't a Gandalfr. "I think I heard you wrong."

Tiffania shook her head. "I know it's hard to believe but you have to listen to me." She took a deep breath. "When a Void user summons a familiar they can either get one of two familiars. The Windalfr and the Gandalfr." She let that sink in. "My mother's books said the Gandalfrs are from far, far away, but it was never specified where exactly they came from."

Saito rubbed the back of his head. "You're tellin' me." He grimaced. "And being a Gandalfr let's me form some kind of bond with you?"

She nodded. "We make contracts with familiars, and, well, that's what I almost did that night." She looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

Saito shook his head. He knew she wasn't in the right state of mind at the time. He had long come to the conclusion the girl had more than one personality. The aura that OTHER Tiffania projected was far more powerful, sensual, and wise. This girl, the half elf, was mostly human. "No, that's fine I know that wasn't you."

The girl blinked. "What?"

"I said I know that wasn't you." He pointed to her head. "There's another person living inside of you, isn't there?"

The girl looked surprised. "How did you-"

"In video games it's not uncommon for the heroine to be possessed by some spirit. Especially if they are half demon and what not."

The girl paled. "I'm not a demon."

"Never said you were," Saito said cheerfully, "just pointing out that happens in a lot of video games."

"Video games?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah, video games! You know, like the Legend of Zelda, .hack/, Final Fantasy, Fate/Stay Night, those kinds of things." He gestured to the cottage around her. "Isn't this all just one big virtual reality world?"

"Virtual reality?" she asked. She was looking less and less embarrassed and more confused. "I don't understand what you mean." The elf girl frowned and uncurled a bit. Her tension eased as she tried to process what the boy said.

Saito laughed. "Ahh, you don't have to be shy. I figured it all out. C'mon. It wasn't hard! Castles, magic, nobles, knights, dragons, and now an elf trapped in a forest?" He grinned. "This must be some new virtual reality game promo." He frowned though. "Still, it would have been nice if they gave me a warning before they sucked me into this game."

"I…I don't think this is a game, Mr. Saito," the elfgirl said quietly.

Saito snorted. "Right, like I'm really gonna fall for that." He looked around, then bent over to whisper into her long ears. "Hey, are you getting paid to act the part, or are you a player too?"

The girl blinked. "I'm not playing if that's what you mean."

Saito nodded. "Ahh, so you're taking your role seriously. Awesome, maybe I should do the same thing." He scratched his chin. "You've made a pretty good back story. Your mother is an elf, and your father was a human." He stopped. "Who was your father?"

She looked down. "I don't want to say."

"C'mon, this might be important to defeat our enemies. It might trigger an event."

She looked up. "What?"

Saito snorted. "Look, when you play a game, you have to do a certain task to get a certain item. By falling unconscious I met you, by getting captured I learned your secret, and now by talking with you, you might help me unlock some kind of power. Maybe the power of love, something that'll help."

The girl blushed. "The power of love?"

Saito nodded. "Oh, don't act that way. You know what I mean. When the main character is in trouble, the power of guts and love prevails. Sometimes they get stronger, sometimes faster, sometimes they can even do magic." Saito shrugged. "All I know is I'm halfway there."

"Halfway where?"

Saito smiled. "What do you think? Falling in love," he said proudly. "You've saved my life, taken care of me, and even helped rescue me when I was in trouble." He laughed. "How could I not fall in love with you, or at least feel some affection."

The girl's face reddened. "You're saying this all so seriously." She put her hands to her face. "Mister Saito, I hardly even know you."

Saito waved her off. "Ahh, Tiffania, this is a game. Play with me here, we can't get to the next level unless I do something like confess my undying love for you, or say I'll promise to protect you." He gave her a wicked smile. "Well, can I?"

The girl didn't know what to say. Everything coming out of the boy's mouth was so confusing. She didn't know what a virtual reality game was, nor did she know what triggers or events meant. All she knew was the boy had confessed his undying love for her. "But! I'm an elf!" she protested. "How can you love an elf?"

The youth laughed. "Are you kidding? Where I come from who doesn't like elves? Especially ones as nice and kind as you!"

The blond felt her heart race. It was beating faster and faster with each compliment he was giving her. He was saying this so boldly too, without a hint of hesitation. Did he really love her? Did doing all that earn his love? If so, Tiffania didn't feel worthy. She had only done what was expected of her, and she certainly didn't expect any reward to come out of this. Yet this boy said he would protect her, or said he would say that later on. Her mind was in confusion in all this, and she had to look down, lest he saw liquid gathering in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Saito said. He sounded worried. "Did I do something wrong? Guh! I need an instruction manual. I hope I didn't do something to offend you. I don't know how humans are supposed to address elves."

Tiffania smiled warily. "I'm not sure either. I've never met one, aside from mother."

Saito nodded. "So elves are Void magicians?"

She shook her head. "Not all of them. I'm no expert at this."

Saito shrugged. He let a few moments pass between them, as he thought of his next course of action. There was no way in hell this couldn't be a game. Everything just fell into place. He had a mission, which was to protect the elf girl, and he had a purpose. He was supposed to be some kind of Gandaflr. But there was one thing that bugged him.

"My Gandalfr powers. It's gone," he said. "How do I get them back?"

She bit her lip. "I've never given them to you in the first place. Contact with me activates some of it, and allows me to communicate with you, but, aside from that, you haven't received the true powers of the Gandalfr."

Saito nodded. "Then give it to me." He pointed to himself. "Make a contract with me, if that's what you're supposed to do."

She blinked. "Are you serious, Mister Saito."

He nodded.

"If I do this they'll come after you too."

"I know."

"If I do this you're stuck with me."

"I know."

"I don't have any money."

"I don't care."

"You might hate me."

"Maybe."

"But-"

Saito laughed. "Look, I'm glad you take this game so seriously, and maybe you're being paid to act like a virtual reality elf, but let's be real for a moment. For me to progress to the next level I need to win against the villagers. I'm a serious gamer and I refuse to die in the first level. This is the most realistic game I've ever been in, in my life."

He looked at her carefully. "Tell me, do you want o live?"

She nodded.

"Well, that settles it." He held out his hand, while kneeling on one knee. "Lady, make me your champion." Saito smirked to himself. He had seen Griffith do the same thing in Berserk, and the girls always swooned at this action. Maybe it'll have the same effect on other female heroines in this game. The elf girl was pretty cute, but she was a bit insecure. He didn't want to force a relationship with her, not yet. He needed her to be stable, to help him win the game, and, who knows, maybe he would go out with her in the real world.

"I..I…" The girl was stuttering uncontrollably as she processed the information he laid out. He was offering to be her champion, to protect her, to be her emissary. The elf girl felt unworthy of such a thing, but she knew she had to get her emotions under control before the villagers attacked. If they didn't buckle down and get ready for the hurricane, it was going to blow everything, including their lives, away. "Are you sure?" she asked one last time."

"Positive, my Lady," he said, making an exaggeration with his hands. "I will fight all the enemies that come before us and defeat them with my sword." He looked around the room. "Or with my axe, whatever I can find."

She laughed a little. "And if you come to hate me?"

He smiled. "Lady Tiffania, I doubt that'll EVER happen." He looked down. "Though, I'm guessing I can't interest you to a movie if we get back to the real world?"

She blinked. "Um, I don't know what you meant for the last part, but, I, um, accept."

He looked up and gave her a grin. "Then make the contract. Make me your Gandalfr."

She took a deep breath. Before she would make the contract she would get a good look at him. He was a simple looking person. He had black hair, blue eyes, and average features. He had a blue shirt, as well as odd pants which were made out of unusual material. He smelled nice, and he looked kind. As far as familiars went she could do worse.

She gave him a smile and closed her eyes. "Close your eyes."

He did. He closed his eyes and thought about nothing but being covered in armor. He thought of being able to fly, to break mountains, to run faster than the wind. He thought of using magical powers, and summoning creatures to fight evil. He thought of protecting the girl who had protected him, and thought of riches as well. What he didn't think of was a set of lips touching his own.

And the horrible pain that came after that.


End file.
